#if you can though you should go see the six tour it's amazing

[stuff-plus-textposts]

Guess what show I just saw!

[hazelsmirrorball]

Rockstar Girlfriend V. | Hazel Callahan

Rockstar! Hazel Callahan x Popstar! Reader Summary: Hazel Callahan and Y/n L/n have to be in a pr relationship, but both of them can stand each other.  Warnings: Enemies to lovers! Enemies to lovers! Enemies to lovers! Angst, Fight (not physical) Not proof read. Sorry for any mistakes, English isn't my main language.  a/n: I swear things are going to look up in the next part. Thanks you so much for all the love and support. 

part one. part two. part three. part four. 

Hazel Callahan wasn’t the type of girl to believe in spiritual things yet she was praying to God to take her out of the situation she was currently in. Hazel wanted to scream, pull her hair out and let the ground eat her away. But there she was living her actual hell. She was certain that hell was real. Hazel had heard the phrase  “Go to hell” a lot of times in her lifetime.  Sometimes directed to other people, sometimes directed to her by her bandmates in a joking and serious manner, her mom would occasionally slip a “go to hell” when she got tired of her shit, haters online would comment on it everyday, she was used to it by now taking it sometimes as a compliment. But what Hazel never knew was that her living hell was going to become a reality. 

Going on tour. 

Don’t get her wrong. She loved being on the road, meeting fans, getting to know new places,  selling out stadiums, having fun, but as of right now she wanted to walk outside and let the tour bus smash her into little pieces. Management thought that the PR thing should stop but that they were going  to  use the advantage that it brought to make both bands tour together. It didn’t make sense to Hazel at all, why would someone pay to see a rock band and have to deal with some little pop girls as the openers. If you asked her that would be her second hell, her first hell being stuck with Y/n in the damn tour bus. 

Even though Management claimed that they were doing amazing when it came to money. Both bands couldn’t understand why they only had one tour bus for six people and they also couldn’t understand how they couldn’t do two separate tours instead of one. If they had all the money they claimed they had, management could’ve done several tours, not just one big one, let alone have the necessity to share  a bus. 

Hazel really needed to get her mind off things with her managers bitching and moaning about the tour, PJ and Josie not deciding what songs to pick for the set list, Isabel and Brittany waking her up at the crack ass of dawn practicing their dance moves and just Y/n’s mere existence made her blood boil. She had been sucking up everything for the past week and she couldn’t hold it any longer. If she had to hear someone else fighting or hard footsteps she was going to throw herself off the bus.  She was on edge and she needed to let loose. 

So when they made their first stop of the tour near a club, things started to look up for Hazel. She had managed to slip away from one of the bodyguards' grasp , ending up having the best night at the club. Alcohol, sex and drugs. The rockstar dream, Hazel was enjoying herself pushing past the fact that she was going to regret everything on tomorrow's show. But as of now she felt on cloud nine and she didn’t want to leave. As she tried getting in the bus as quietly as possible not wanting to gain anyones attention but sadly as she opened the door her eyes landed on e/c one’s. Hazel quickly rolled her eyes watching how Y/n’s beautiful skin glowed, while her ears were covered in her headphones. Y/n’s eyes wandered Hazel’s face placing the guitar she was holding down next to her. 

“You do know you have a show tomorrow, right?” Y/n said breaking the silence while pushing her headphones off. Hazel muttered a river of curse words while imitating Y/n’s voice in an annoying  manner. The only thing Y/n could hear was Hazel’s whines escaping her lips but aside from that all of it was gibberish. Hazel rolled her eyes once again as she stumbled in taking her shoes off while her gaze stayed on the floor looking at the shiny guitar that was next to Y/n’s leg. Her eyes took in the guitar, noticing her name engraved at the top. 

“What the fuck are you doing with my guitar?” Hazel said angrily, snatching it from Y/n’s side and placing it back in her case. Y/n watched Hazel’s toned arm flex as she put the guitar away. She quickly shut the book she was currently writing on, snapping herself back into reality. 

“I thought you wouldn’t mind since I’ve used it before” Y/n replied nervously as Hazel turned to face her, visually alarmed. 

“Actually, L/n. I do mind. Don’t touch my fucking things. I don’t want you near my things let alone touching them. Everything you touch you fucking ruin. Don’t you think you have ruined enough things in my life already ” Hazel exclaimed loudly pulling on her hair while towering over her. Y/n looked up from her seat nervously scared of what was to come watching Hazel’s uneven breathing and pissed off face. 

“You don’t mean that Hazel, you’re just high” Y/n replied attempting to stand up but instantly Hazel pushed her down trapping her on the couch with her hands on Y/n’s shoulders. Y/n froze dead in her spot not knowing the things that were going through Hazel’s head. 

“Oh, I meant every single thing. Do you think I forgot what you did? You know what… You’ve always hated me for having everything, everything you ever wanted. But there’s a difference between you and me. Everything I have, I’ve worked for it. Never had I made someone fall in love with me so they would write me songs. I would never waste someone’s time. At least I’m actually talented to do my work. At least all my awards and all my fame is because I’m actually talented.”  Hazel yelled, taking Y/n by the chin to make her look at her.  She was pissed and she needed to take her anger on someone. 

“I just did the same thing your mom did” Y/n replied nonchalantly while looking up from her lashes. 

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Hazel asked confused, leaning down, inches away from Hazel.

“I fucked the person in charge just to get what I wanted. Just like your mom did so you could have the success you have” Y/n replied softly, but as those words left out her mouth she instantly regretted it watching the life leave Hazel’s face. She angrily let go of her face, taking a deep breath and picking up her guitar case. 

“Go to hell, Y/n. You’ve changed, all  this fame has gotten way past your head” 

“Where are you going, Hazel?” Y/n said standing up from the couch and following close behind. 

“If I'm such an untalented person and I’m in the band because of my mom. I bet they don’t need me for tomorrow's show. You’ll do a great job explaining that to management. Now do me a favor and go to hell” Hazel yelled, slamming the tour bus door on Y/n’s face. 

...

thank you for reading!

previous imagine

[its-vannah]

Last Forever | Eddie Roundtree x Reader

Request from anonymous: hii!! i love your eddie fics, you’re an amazing writer! i was wondering if i could put in a request where eddie and reader are both in the band and as they’re up on stage they look at each other while performing (kinda like billy and daisy i guess?). Karen and Camila notices this and they talk about it with reader and reader is in denial because her and eddie are good friends and she doesn’t want to jeopardize that (they became friends over their hatred of billy😭). but they end up together in the end though? thank you💕💕

Warnings: Angst, fluff, profanities, kissing

Daisy Jones and The Six Masterlist

Everytime you walk out on stage, you instantly get high off of the thrill of seeing the crowd bursting with energy. The audience cheers as the band walks out onstage, jumping up and down while waving their hands in the air. You'll never get tired of this. To think you had once believed you'd never make it out of Pittsburgh—now you were performing in front of a sold-out concert in the heart of New York.

You thought back to your first performance, back when the band was called "The Dunne Brothers." It seemed crazy to you, now, that you were so nervous to go out on stage. There were, at most, thirty people who couldn't care less about what you guys were playing.

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Holding your tambourine tightly in your hand, you peeked your head out from behind the curtains, tapping your foot against the wooden floor. You were nervous, anyone in the band could see that.

You felt the warmth of a hand on your back, an arm slinging over your shoulders. Turning your head, your eyes meet Eddie's.

A forced smile found itself on your face as he spoke, "Nervous?"

"Can you tell?" You asked, bowing your head.

"Only a little," He smiled, "Look, it's going to be okay. Just pretend they aren't out there. They don't give a damn what we're doing anyway. This is just practice for when we make it big."

Taking a deep breath, your eyes met his again, your foot going still, "Thank you."

"You're going to do great, Y/N."

"You are, too."

Sure enough, Eddie was right. Barely anyone in the crowd, except one woman who was drunk off her ass, cared about what you guys were playing. A few people swayed to the music, but few looked up on stage.

While singing backup, gently tapping the tamorine on your upper thigh, you looked over at him, a smile plastered on your face. He returned the sentiment, nodding his head as he played.

That was the first, of many, times Eddie Roundtree eased your fears.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Stepping up to your mic, you looked around at the band. Daisy and Billy were waving at the crowd, who's cheering only got louder as they do so. Meanwhile, Karen was laughing at something Graham was saying to her—and Warren was fiddling with his drumsticks, getting his energy from the audience.

Then there was Eddie. He was tapping on his guitar, a gentle smile on his face as he took it all in. New York City. Who would've known?

You looked over at him, as you had done before every single performance in the entirety of your career, and smiled.

He smiled back, nodding. This time, your eyes stayed locked on each other's for a second longer than they should have.

The two of you turned back to the roaring crowd, listening for the cue of when to start playing.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Things had been different since moving out to LA, especially after the first tour. Billy was more involved with Camila and Julia, only going to mandatory practices and opting to spend more time with his girls. Warren, Karen, and Graham were out doing everything and everyone under the sun. You expected Eddie to go with them, as he had before the band had gone on tour. But he stayed back with you.

You weren't exactly sure why, but one conversation stuck in your head as a possibility to him stopping his wild streak.

The two of you had been messing around with a melody when he looked up at you, asking, "Why don't you go out with us anymore?"

You had hesitated, initially unsure of how to answer, "How honest do you want me to be?"

"As honest as you can be."

Taking a deep breath, you leaned towards him, "I saw what drugs and alcohol did to Billy, what it did to the people who loved him. I don't want to make that same mistake. I don't ever want to put myself or the people I love in that position. When the right person comes along, I'll know. But that person won't be out being reckless."

Eddie was silent for a while before he excused himself, leaving his guitar propped up on the couch. You weren't sure what he was doing, but you did hear him rummaging in one of the rooms upstairs and then the toilet flushing.

He came back downstairs a few minutes later, his hands in his pockets, asking a simple question, "Want to keep practicing?"

You nodded, happy that what you had to say didn't ruin your friendship. As he played, you silently hoped he wouldn't notice your fleeting glances towards him.

Although you'd never admit it to him, you were aware of your feelings for him. Unbeknownst to you, so were Camila and Karen.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Daisy knew how to work a crowd—it was first nature to her. Her movements were fluid, captivating everyone's attention as she sang.

"You found me in flames/it's the daylight of change," She and Billy began, "Baby, all that stuff is done."

Your part came in a split second later as you sand backup, "You're my morning sun/Aurora, you're the one/You're my mornint sun."

While the lead vocalists continued, you focused on matching the rhythm with your tamboruine, swaying as you shook it back and forth.

When you got to the chorus, you made it all of three seconds before looking at Eddie, "Oh, I kinda think I wanna make it last forever... Oh, I kinda think I wanna make it last forever..."

To your surprise, he was looking back at you, mouthing the words back to you.

"Oh, I kinda think I wanna make it."

In that moment, there was nobody else on stage except for the two of you, looking longingly into each other's eyes as you sang back and forth to each other.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Are you ever going to tell him how you feel?" Karen asked you, rather impatiently, as you set the table for dinner one night.

Camila looked up from her spot over the stove in the kitchen, as if she were wondering the same thing.

"What?" Your cheeks suddenly felt hot and you chose to look anywhere but in her direction.

Karen crossed her arms, "Cam, are you going to take this or am I?"

Camila came out of the kitchen, setting a dish towel on the counter, "Y/N, we've seen the way you and Eddie look at each other. It's before every performance, every practice session... Really, anywhere."

"Because we're friends."

"That's the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard," Karen said, rolling her eyes, "I don't know whether you guys are head over heels in love or if it's just intense eyefucking—but you've got to take care of it one way or another."

Camila held back a laugh, "What we're trying to say is, what's the point in not telling him? What do you have to lose?"

"Everything."

"What? You won't lose us or the band. You know that."

You tried to stop the tears from falling, but that proved to be difficult, "No, you don't understand."

Camila moved towards you, rubbing your back as Karen pulled out a chair for you to sit down on.

"Then what is it, honey?"

"He is everything."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Your eyes are locked with one another, unable to put your attention anywhere else. For once, you don't give a damn what anyone thought. All you care about is what happens after the concert.

"Where did you turn... When you needed tenderness..." You sing softly, chest heaving.

You saw, Eddie's breath hitch in his throat, biting his lip.

"Where did you turn... When you needed tenderness."

Your mind drifts back to all the touches you had shared over the years—his hand on your shoulder, your palm pressed on his chest while the two of you danced around the living room on Christmas. It was all clicking.

You kept singing, "When you reached out for my touch...and I couldn't give you much...Of all the time we lost..."

Eddie tilts his head, thinking about where the two of you would be now if he had manned up and told you how he felt four years ago.

"While I was running from your light..."

You had spent years running from your feelings—that wasn't an option anymore.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Your first performance in front of over a thousand people had you a nervous wreck all over again. You could handle a couple hundred—but enough to populate your hometown? It sent you spiraling.

Eddie found you pacing back and forth behind stage, your hands running over your face to try and calm your nerves.

"Hey, hey, it's alright," He whispered, gently taking you by the shoulders, "This isn't our first rodeo, right? We're the real deal now, Y/N/N. It's alright."

He pulled you into a hug, running his hand over your hair as you breathed into his chest, "Breathe with me, okay? Listen to my heart, alright? Listen to the beat."

His voice alone managed to calm you down—paired with his touch, you didn't know what to do with yourself.

The two of you pulled away from each other, and he looked you up and down, "Ready, sweetheart?"

You nodded, causing him to smile. He pressed a kiss to your temple, "You've got this, don't worry."

The both of you ignored the looks you got from the rest of the band while you walked on stage.

During the performance, it became too much. Your fists clenched up and your breath work wasn't quite right.

Taking notice of it, Eddie discretely moved towards you, passing it off as him being really passionate playing the bass. In reality, he just wanted to be there with you, reassuring you that you'd be okay.

He succeeded, too. Having him a foot away versus the usual six helped in ways you couldn't have imagined.

From then on, he always played a little closer to you.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

As soon as the band went on a short break halfway through the concert, Eddie made a beeline towards you behind stage.

He cupped your face, pulling you into a kiss the two of you had been waiting for the entirety of your careers.

Your hands found the collar of his shirt, pulling him as close to you as physically possible. His hands slid down to your waist, finally pulling back to catch his breath.

"I've been waiting to do that since the day I met you."

His forehead pressed against yours, relief washing over him, "God, I love you. Was that too soon? I'm sorry—"

You pulled him back in for a quick kiss, "Not soon enough."

[postwarlevi]

Firefighter

Content: HC format of volunteer firefighter Jean and reader meeting and becoming a couple! 2.1k words oops that was a lot please enjoy!

a/n- Inspired by a self ship idea and heeeere's the amazing artwork by @charlotteplsdosth that also helped inspired this story by the amazing thank you so much!

--------------

Jean has been doing odd jobs while getting his associate degree in business. He isn't sure exactly what he wants to pursue after that. His best friend and classmate Marco talks about volunteering and they both take a day to go to the local fire department.

They talk to the captain of the station and are given instructions and a massive packet of papers to go through of all the requirements.

Jean looks it over for a few days, seeing there's written and physical exams, courses that equal over 400 hours total that include things like basic knowledge of health and safety, search and rescue, water and hoses, being CPR trained, and things he never thought of like understanding building construction for getting people out, and also being a trained paramedic and learning to use SCUBA gear, among other things.

After a week of thinking it over both he and Marco put in their applications and get started, and they are busier then ever.

Jean is exhausted and determined and somehow finds time to fit everything in and in a couple months he and Marco join the station and continue the last bit of their training on the job, both passing with flying colors and in six months total join the team.

They don't get paid much as it's volunteer work but they find they love it. Most days are quiet or it's non emergency calls that can easily be handled.

Jean quietly has a mini breakdown one day though after the team is unable to salvage a family home that went up in flames. The people are okay but they lost all their things.

The station holds a town fundraiser to help them get on their feet again, and Jean and Marco are leading the way, wanting to continue their work.

After a year, they both sign up for another year and Jean is entering the the second year of his degree.

It's a quiet day at the station when Marco on dispatch gets a call from a frantic woman about a cat stuck in a tree.

He goes to say this isn't something they can really send someone out for but since it's a slow day, Jean motions to him it's okay, and Marco finds out the address while Jean listens in then takes a car and ladder and heads out.

That's the first time he meets you, crying at the mewing cat far up in a tree on your front lawn.

He almost laughs at the sight but contains himself for your sake. The cat will be fine.

You rush over to him and he pats your back and introduces himself and starts up to retrieve your cat.

You watch in both awe and distress as he takes this seriously and handles it much better than you have.

45 minutes later he finally gets the very uncooperative animal down and hands it back to you, almost breaking a sweat on that warm day.

You thank him and insist he come inside and get him a drink and a light meal and tell him you'll keep a better eye on your cat.

Soon Jean has to be getting back and you find after getting to know him maybe you don't want him to leave.

You ask more questions and he tells you of a food drive they are holding this Saturday and you ask if you can come and help.

Jean was secretly hoping that's where this was leading.

So it begins, first with the food drive, then with an open station tour, where Jean greets you and introduces you to Marco.

The event is for families and kids and you've borrowed your little cousin as an excuse to come. While Marco entertains her, Jean entertains you.

Soon you are going to events outside the station. Walks in the park, dinner, movies, late night texting sessions when you should both be asleep, getting to know each other more.

As much as Jean works, volunteers and studies, he makes time for you as an important part of his life.

He knows your work schedule by heart and soon you are getting little presents of flowers and other sweet things delivered both to your work and to your house.

Before his next year of volunteering is up you've moved to a deeper relationship, exchanging I love you's.

One day he tells you he doesn't know what he wants to do with his life and you spend the night talking again.

Though you worry about him when he's at the station, because while most calls are minor, some are very much not, you see he loves being a firefighter.

With you being a big supporting factor, he makes the decision to finish his degree, knowing it will be there for future use, cut down on the odd jobs, and become a full time firefighter.

A few months later, the week before he is set to have his induction ceremony, he asks if you want to look for a place together, knowing he wants to be with you.

Turns out you've been thinking of it too, and you start looking right away.

At his ceremony with the other inductees, including Marco and some friends they've made at the station along the way, you are there cheering Jean on with his mom and dad, your mom, dad and little cousin, and some other friends.

Jean has asked to go last and with his comrades help he sets his plan in motion, gets you on stage with him, and in his best suit in tie, hair slicked back, gets down on one knee and presents you with an engagement ring, if you'll have him.

You are sobbing and enthusiastically agree. You hug and kiss and the crew and people in attendance cheer you so loudly that the surrounding neighborhood hears it.

Within a month Jean now has his degree and you've found a place you both love and have moved in with your cat and a stray dog that someone found hanging around the station that Jean has been taking care of.

It's not long before you have a wedding, two in fact, both in one day. One early at the station with his team and friends where they wear their uniforms, except Marco, who has a tux on like Jean, being the best man. The captain of the station gives you away, and your dog is the ring bearer.

Jean then drives you to the second event in one of the fire engines that's decorated for the occasion. It's not a far drive but people honk and cheer and you both wave out the window.

Everyone is already present, both sets of parents front and center, and the rest of your family and friends, for a sweet, somewhat small barnyard wedding, that's perfect for the event and a reception.

Jean takes his place at the front with his best man Marco and his groomsmen who have walked in just before with the maid of honor and bridesmaids.

You come in, same dress as before, still leaving Jean with tears in his eyes as your father meets you and walks you down the aisle to Jean.

You both get time off for your honeymoon and after that settle into a routine you both adore as husband and wife.

You love being able to be home when Jean gets off and having things ready for him to take it easy, especially if he's had a trying day. He appreciates it and there's days where he does the same for you.

Life continues, you worry about Jean still, especially when his team is called to drive north and help other firefighters battle a wildfire.

You know he has to go and hug and squeeze him and cry a little bit. He promises to check in and you and his mom will keep in contact.

You don't see him for five days. You watch the news that talks about the men and women suffering from smoke inhalation and exhaustion and are beside yourself and your boss grants you a leave for a few days at seeing your grief.

Jean checks in just a couple times a day, telling you to stop watching the news, and that he's okay.

Some days you drive to his parents house and spend time with his mom as you both try to not watch the news, waiting for updates.

You break down and watch the devastation happening not very far from you and cry when Marco texts you and says everyone is fine and coming home but Jean suffered from heat exhaustion from being on the front lines while giving other out of commission firefighters a break.

While you wait for them to drive back the news declares there's finally an end in sight to the fires and all the people that came to help made all the difference.

You are glad of course, but can't wait to see your husband.

Jean's parents give you space and will call tomorrow to check in, and you just sit and wait for another hour. Your dog is right by your side, feeling how tense you are.

You jump up when you hear a car door and bolt outside where Marco is helping Jean out of the car. He's had medical treatment but still needs a little recovery time.

You cry and rush to them and hug him as gently as you can while really wanting to squeeze him. Jean tears up too and strokes your hair and you and Marco help him inside.

You thank Marco and hug him as well before he leaves. Then it's time to pamper your husband. Anything he wants.

You praise him and tell him how proud you are, make him his favorite meals, set up baths for him, cuddle him at night, wait on him for two whole days.

Jean adores you and tells you he thought of you all the time and is sorry he didn't check in more and tells you after a couple days he's feeling pretty good now, but he doesn't mind if you still want to spoil him.

After another week off he's back on the job, again, mostly minor calls with his station.

Your anxiety calms down now that he's home, always there though. You make sure to kiss him and tell him you love him every morning before and after he leaves.

One day you are off and cooking at home and are chatting with a friend who has called and don't notice that maybe the stove burner is on too high.

Your fire alarm notices though and it starts blaring. You get the dog and cat away from the kitchen and after a minute are able to relatively safely remove the source of the problem, but it's smoky enough the alarm doesn't stop.

The fire station is alerted thanks to a town wide system of alarms being connected to the station in case people aren't able to call.

Marco realizes it's your address and notifies Jean who doesn't hesitate to get in a car and rush home.

You really have it under control but are a mess from the situation and cry from embarrassment when Marco brings out a fire engine with a couple other members of the team just in case.

Jean takes the rest of the day off and gets the house back in order and makes sure you're okay. He knows this isn't like you.

It turns out, you tell him that night, that you've been preoccupied, from your recent doctor visit results, because next year you will be having a baby.

Jean is ecstatic and dotes on you and accidently slips earlier then intended to the crew when he asks about taking a leave at some point for, reasons. They all want to take the new dad to be out to celebrate and he let's them but insists on shutting down early to go be with you at home.

Before the year ends you get together with other station members and their wives and you ladies come up with the idea of a sexy fireman calendar, for charity, of course, supporting the local animal shelter.

Some of the men take real convincing of this. Jean is confused too that you won't mind his picture being gawked at, but you tell him no one else can touch and it's for charity, so it's okay with you.

The day they take the pictures the wives show up and it's clear you are all having way to much fun with this.

Some of you even adopt some of the animals that are included that day, and the calendar becomes such a success that it's clear another edition will be coming out next year.

In the meantime you and Jean continue to get ready for the new little life you will soon bring into the world.

---------------

a/n - follow up part of the calendar for charity coming up soon!! Picking months and poses and participants. There's more guys then months, I'm so sorry I can't please everyone! LOL

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Slice of Life (3) Masterlist

part one, part two

a six to a nine (ao3) - danhoweiis

Summary: phil has some doubts about his new haircut but dan helps to reassure him in his own way

all night revival (ao3) - Fictropes

Summary: now there’s half a bottle of gin missing from the shelf.

and my heart's already sinned. (ao3) - gesticulationbubble

Summary: Phil had put the idea in Dan's head. A baking video like never before. He should've known he'd regret it, based on how quickly Dan agreed to it, and the smirk that immediately appeared on his face. But it was too late to back out. Especially now that he was standing in the kitchen, feeling embarrassingly stupid just thinking of Dan all dressed up for him.

This was a bad idea. This was DEFINITELY a bad idea.

(Or, Phil asks Dan to dress as Sister Daniel for their return to Halloween Baking. Chaos ensues. Also Dan has feelings (tm) about his uncloseted freedom and Phil loves him for it.)

Chips (ao3) - philsmeatylegss

Summary: Dan struggling with the concept that all healthy couples should fight.

dan buys a skirt (ao3) - baroquen

Summary: Dan is thinking about buying a skirt. Phil thinks this is a very good idea.

Dan and Phil vs the Pantomime (ao3) - cafephan

Summary: Phil surprises Dan with tickets to a Christmas pantomime.

Gentle (ao3) - Lesbianphan

Summary: Phil doesn't really look at photos of their faces that much. Truthfully, there's only so many gifs and videos of people pointing out how utterly hopelessly in love you and your partner look at each other that you can actually absorb into your brain. Phil's brain feels like mush sometimes, with the amount of feeling right there, displayed for the world to see. This livestream was special though - in so many ways, - and he found himself transfixed by the animated images of Dan's gentle touching of his face, feeling some kind of cosmic shift happening on screen, the realization on the tip of his tongue. Just a fluffy thinkpiece on their current content, and all the little moments they decided to share with their audience these past few months.

happy twink death (ao3) - possumdnp

Summary: Phil celebrates his 37th birthday.

I'd like to hang out with you (for my whole life) (ao3) - bunnyslipper

Summary: Mornings in the forever home (featuring the golden pig)

In Case I Never Said (ao3) - ahappyphil

Summary: “I think you’re my soulmate too by the way”

it's amazing that you care (ao3) - danhoweiis

Summary: phil is having one of his dizzy spells whilst dan is on tour in america

late night talking (ao3) - theloveofbees

Summary: it surely wasn’t the weirdest thing phil had caught dan doing in their thirteen years of knowing each other, but it was up there.

or it's the summer before dan's tour and they talk on the floor of their office.

mischief in our eyes (ao3) - dizzy

Summary: Random scenes throughout the filming of the 2023 Halloween baking video.

Naughty! Do Not Eat (ao3) - talentisntgenius

Summary: Why Dan Had To Call an Ambulance but it's parent!DnP

pancakes + syrup (ao3) - indistinct_echo

Summary: “Are my nostrils deceiving me?” Phil asks, still out of Dan’s line of sight.

Dan blinks, looks down at the pancakes, now almost ready to be flipped, and then back at the Phil-less space. “No?”

pyjama week (ao3) - possumdnp

Summary: Dan and Phil enjoy a relaxing day during their annual Pyjama Week.

The Re-Birth of Gamingmas (ao3) - Ippyhaj

Summary: Dan and Phil go out for coffee and Phil convinces Dan to re-open the Gaming Channel.

They fade to nothing when I look at him (ao3) - phasamtasie

Summary: Arriving in the kitchen Phil made himself his one cup of coffee he allowed himself on weekend days and stared out the window lost in thought, so it took him a few seconds to register why the light had seemed so much brighter than usual at 8am. With childish delight he saw that it had snowed overnight, and not just the usual UK dusting where one could still see the grass underneath but a proper snow, coating everything outside in a bright white.

OR

Dan and Phil go sledging.

to be known so deeply (ao3) - kissthemisfits

Summary: Seasons change, summer ends.

too soft for all of it (ao3) - theloveofbees

Summary: phil loves dan, and he loves dan's hair.

loosely based on phil's tweet on 26 march 2023.

We balance each other out on the seesaw of life (ao3) - natigail

Summary: Phil had dragged Dan to Isle of Man after his return home from tour. The sea air would do him good (even if it gave him hobbit hair) and he could be surrounded by Phil's family (who were his family too). He hadn’t actively planned to drag him onto a seesaw on a playground but it turned out to be a precious moment all the same.

we never change (ao3) - nivi_chip

Summary: different decade same laundry problems

Welcome home! (never leave that long again) (ao3) - natigail

Summary: Dan comes home from tour and stumbles right into Phil’s arms. He is more touch starved than he’d realised.

What are the odds? (ao3) - spacedaisjes

Summary: What are the odds that youtuber-duo Dan and Phil choose the same restaurant as you, at a table close to yours, on the exact day you decide to go out for dinner instead of bringing takeaway to your hotel room like you had done the previous nights. I'm guessing the odds are slim, but they surely aren't zero, regardless of how much I suck at maths.

However, what I do know is this; Odds are that Autumn indeed did book a flight to London in early March. They could've gone to Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, somewhere she had not been before, but fact is that they chose London. And they are grateful that they did.

when... (ao3) - dizzy

Summary: A fic about hypothetical future dogs.

[ptn-imagines]

Hello there. If possible, do you have any headcanons about horseback rider / horse girl / equestrian / Cinnabar? Since Cinnabar has a white horse with her while in her Courteous Call / Regards skin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bPy_yLZvHY-), I thought about asking this question. Personally, I think Cinnabar would take F!Chief on horseback riding dates, maybe even performing a few Dressage techniques for F!Chief. What do you think? Thank you too! :)

Here you go anon, sorry for the wait! Honestly, this request reminded me of how much I miss riding myself; I had a lot of fun with it!

Equestrian Cinnabar x F!Chief

Cinnabar and Chief have been dating for a while, sharing an apartment in one of the lower income areas of Eastside. They don’t have much to their name, but it’s enough to live a comfortable life, and they’re happy.

Chief works at the local police station, though she’s getting more and more unhappy with her job by the day as the rate of corruption continues to steadily increase. Cinnabar works for a private security firm, and while she doesn’t seem as discontent as Chief herself is, she can still notice the seemingly-eternal exhaustion in the eyes of her dearest.

One day, Chief comes home from work to see Cinnabar reading a letter with wide eyes. Worrying that it’s something bad, Chief asks about it; with amazement in her tone, Cinnabar explains that an old friend of her father’s wanted her to take over her family’s horse ranch.

Chief had no idea that Cinnabar’s family owned a horse ranch; her girlfriend had never mentioned it before. Naturally, there was no end to the questions. It turned out that Cinnabar had grown up on her family’s horse ranch, and her father had fostered an avid love of riding in her. When her father died, some of her spark for equestrian did too. Her father’s best friend, Alyosha, took over the ranch, and a teenaged Cinnabar continued to ride for several years, competing in many competitions and winning no shortage of prizes. She was the pride of everyone who lived and worked on the ranch… but eventually, that hollow hole in her heart became too much, and she moved away to study at a police academy.

The two deliberate for a long time over whether Cinnabar should accept Alyosha’s offer, as she’s still hesitant about returning to the ranch after such a long time. Eventually, Chief manages to convince her; both of them are clearly falling into a rut with their current lifestyle, and perhaps, after so long away, some of Cinnabar’s wounds may have healed.

The two pack up and prepare to move that weekend. It’s a several hours long car ride out to the countryside, though Chief ends up taking over the driving no less than an hour in, noticing that Cinnabar is jittery and distracted.

Chief had half-expected Cinnabar to immediately head for the stables upon their arrival, but that wasn’t the case. Instead, she brought Chief inside the main house to give her a tour; it seemed like the house hadn’t changed that much in the years she’d been gone. Cinnabar’s old bedroom was almost untouched, and the two moved into it.

Chief was also introduced to the others on the ranch. Alyosha was a strict man and she couldn’t help but feel like he was judging her closely, but she could also tell that he and Cinnabar were very close.

The other ranch-hands were a lot friendlier than Alyosha, and they all seemed to perk up upon learning she was Cinnabar’s girlfriend. They offered to give her a tour of the rest of the ranch while Cinnabar spoke with Alyosha, and their questions and teasing were pretty much endless.

It wasn’t until the next morning that Cinnabar returned to the stables. Waking up at around six AM, Chief noticed she was alone in bed. Heading out to the kitchen, she was given some toast and coffee by a friendly ranch-hand and informed that Cinnabar had gotten up to do chores two hours ago.

After finishing breakfast and thanking the ranch-hand, Chief headed out to the stables, which she couldn’t help but notice were at least twice as clean as they were yesterday. Some of the other ranchers working in the stables already helpfully directed Chief to one of the end stalls.

When Chief first saw Cinnabar grooming the proud white stallion, she couldn’t help but stop in her tracks, breath caught in her throat. Cinnabar was dressed in full riding gear, gloves to boots, a hand on the horse’s neck as she murmured softly to it. Though Chief couldn’t make out the words, she recognized the affection in her girlfriend’s tone; Cinnabar was nothing short of resplendent.

The horse noticed Chief, its ears flicking; noticing, Cinnabar turned to see what had gotten its attention, and blushed right away. “C-Chief, I wasn’t expecting it to be you. I thought you’d sleep in more.”

“Couldn’t help it. My bed-warmer was gone.” Chief made a joke to try and cover up how flustered she was, hesitantly stepping closer. “You look like you’ve found where you’re meant to be, Cin.”

Cinnabar blushed deeper, and distracted herself by introducing the horse to Chief. His name was Knight and he was the horse Cinnabar had been riding since she was little; though he was getting older, he was still the gentle and regal soul he had always been. Cinnabar encouraged Chief to let Knight smell her hands, and then gently pat him; indeed, Knight’s response was quite agreeable, and he seemed to be enjoying the attention.

Despite the full riding gear, though, Cinnabar didn’t take Knight out to ride. She instead attached a lead rope to Knight’s halter and walked him around the paddock. Chief could tell that Cinnabar was still hesitant about riding; she wanted to help, but wasn’t sure how, so she resolved to simply support her girlfriend.

It took about a week for Cinnabar to finally decide to try riding Knight again. During this time, Chief had been slowly adjusting to waking up in the wee hours of the morning to head out and help Cinnabar with her chores. She’d actually yet to ride any horses herself, but she liked to think she was good at mucking their stalls, grooming and feeding them, and cleaning their tack and whatnot.

Cinnabar had been hesitant while putting Knight’s tack on, but as soon as she sat astride the saddle, she was all confidence and poise. Later on, Cinnabar explained that horses were very in tune with their rider’s emotions, and she hadn’t wanted Knight to be affected by her lingering uncertainties.

Cinnabar walked Knight for a few laps around the paddock to warm up, then a trot, then a gentle canter. It wasn’t anything particularly incredible – no galloping or jumping or any amazing equestrian feats. Still, Chief couldn’t help but note how absolutely at home in the saddle Cinnabar looked, and she knew that this was where her girlfriend truly belonged, not in the big city.

After about a month on the ranch had passed, Cinnabar invited Chief to go trail riding with her, and she was more than happy to accept. She was breathless in awe at the scenery – her girlfriend had taken her on a trail that wound down by the shore of a large lake with pristine waters, one impossible to reach by motor vehicles. The leaves on the trees were just starting to turn colors, too, creating a picturesque view that Chief knew would be seared into her memory forever.

Of course, her favorite part was by far feeling her back pressed up against Cinnabar’s chest, basking in their shared warmth. It was an extremely close and intimate feeling, and despite having never ridden horseback before, Chief had never felt more safe and secure than in this moment.

It had become apparent by now that Cinnabar would indeed be taking over the ranch, so the riding trails became a date the two of them went on every weekend, weather permitting. Chief was in awe of the sheer amount of hidden trails tucked away in the countryside, and just when she thought she’d gotten a grasp on one of them, Cinnabar would reveal a new shortcut or secret path, once again reinvigorating her with a child-like wonder. Of course, her favorite part was always spending time so close to Cinnabar.

After about a month or two on the ranch, Chief could see that Cinnabar was back in the saddle as though she’d never stopped riding in the first place. Chief often found herself leaning against the fence of the paddock, watching as her girlfriend made complicated jumps look like child’s play, or left the times of the other ranch residents in the dust during any sort of race.

One of the ranchers informed Chief that Cinnabar had been quite the dressage star in her youth. Chief wondered if what Cinnabar had already shown her didn’t count as star quality anyway, but her curiosity got the best of her and she ended up asking her girlfriend if she could see some techniques. Cinnabar was embarrassed, but obliged. As soon as she saw Cinnabar performing even basic dressage, Chief forgot how to breathe; she’d always thought Cinnabar and Knight were incredibly in tune, but now it was as if they moved as a single entity. Steed and rider, there seemed to be no difference between the two, and Chief found herself spellbound by the graceful dance of dressage, the ultimate understanding between two companions. It quickly became a delight to watch Cinnabar put on private dressage showings for her; if Chief had had any doubts that Cinnabar belonged on the ranch, they would’ve long been dispelled.

Cinnabar eventually offered to buy Chief a horse of her own, and Chief said she’d think about it; however, the truth was that she really couldn’t see herself as an equestrian at all. Riding in the saddle with Cinnabar and helping her to take care of Knight… It may not be the typical idea of life on a horse ranch, but it’s the only life Chief felt like she needed. And, at the end of the day… Both her and Cinnabar were happier than they’d ever been.

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Here's a compilation I made of six different comedians (two per podcast) on three different podcasts saying something about different types of comedy, specially how it's different in Britain and American. Tumblr won't let me embed it even though I compressed it down to be under the max file size, so I'm using a Google Drive. It's just audio, but I made it a video instead of an audio file so I could add text to show what people and podcasts are playing at a given time.

I put those together and then I wrote down a bunch of thoughts about it, which I think start out somewhat coherent but get less so as I go along. It's a whole bunch of stuff I've been thinking about all shoehorned into one post just because they're all on a vaguely similar topic, like a hastily thrown-together Edinburgh show. The point is that I'm going to listen to Mike Birbiglia's albums. That's... that's the upshot. That's how all this started.

I found the chat with Hari Kondabolu especially fascinating, having heard a few of Hari’s comedy specials and albums, and heard him on The Bugle a lot over a bunch of years (also I saw his Problem with Apu documentary, everyone should watch that, and should know that he says all the time on The Bugle he doesn’t get royalties for it anymore so doesn’t mind how people find it, just watch it).

He’s an interesting presence on The Bugle, an outsider as an American, who was there from the very beginning of their reboot in 2016, so you can kind of watch him figure out what this is in real time. At first he audibly has no fucking idea what he’s signed up for, and as it goes along, you can hear him settle into an area of “Well I still don’t really understand why you’re doing this, but I see what it is now and have found a way to do my thing beside your thing and that’s fine.” That’s partly a reaction to Andy Zaltzman, because no one really knows what to do with Andy Zaltzman unless they’ve had a long time to get used to it (except for John Oliver, I’m pretty sure they just met at a student comedy gig in about 1999 and instantly said “Oh look, my comedy soulmate”). But some of it is also a reaction to the British stuff. The references to British politics and history that you get on a topical and political comedy show, and the way they approach all their material. I like hearing Hari Kondabolu on there, an outsider perspective who can pick it apart a bit.

So I found his Comedian’s Comedian podcast interview interesting – honestly the whole thing is worth a listen, even if you don’t really know Hari Kondabolu’s work, as a good analysis of political comedy and the mechanics of good comedy bits and British vs. American comedy and the comedy industry more generally. But for this post, my interest is the British vs. American stuff.

I cut out a big chunk of their Brit vs. American discussion on that episode, and put it in the video above. I debated how long to make the clip, to create what was meant to be a compilation of people discussing British vs. American comedy, and ended up leaving in some stuff that’s a bit off topic where they fawn over Daniel Kitson. I realize comedians fawning over Daniel Kitson is hardly such a rare and exciting event that it needs to be preserved, but I particularly enjoyed hearing Stuart Goldsmith and Hari Kondabolu do it, so I left it in when cutting out the clip. I’ve heard Hari bring up on a couple of other occasions, as well, that he’s wildly impressed and amazed by the Hotmail address.

Anyway though, the Kitson stuff aside, the clip from the Comedian’s Comedian podcast is mostly Hari Kondabolu and Stuart Goldsmith discussing how the Edinburgh Fringe Festival shapes British comedians’ careers into something different from what they are in America. They have to write a new hour every year, because there will be reviewers there who saw last year’s hour and will catch them out if they try to recycle material. Also because it’s a smaller country, so they can only tour one show in so many places before everyone’s heard it and they have to do a new thing. Hari Kondabolu is impressed with the work ethic but mildly horrified by the whole thing, and can point out some aspects of the system that people who are used to it just wouldn’t notice because they seem normal.

I think there are two major factors that mark out the Edinburgh-influenced British model of comedy  careering building as being different from, say, American stuff: the new hour every year and the way each hour has to be themed and coherent and structured and preferably built around some story or message. In Hari Kondabolu’s podcast episode he mainly talked about the new hour every year thing, but also briefly touched on the concept of themes. Stuart Goldsmith mentioned that tides seemed to be changing, as it used to be that themes would make you different and interesting, but not anymore, so they’ll become less common soon. I’ve just spent three weeks listening to 38 shows performed at Edinburgh 2023, and I can say, I’m pretty sure that prediction was inaccurate. Themes and throughlines abound, and I’m happy about that. I like a good theme.

I do think there are pros and cons to it, though, and Hari Kondabolu points out some significant cons. If you look at the list of shows by any British comedy who's been doing Edinburgh for a long time, there are going to be some filler years. Some years when they did a show just because it's a new year and Edinburgh is up there so they'd better write a show, even if they don't have much to say. Hari is right to say that British comedians work fucking hard to turn over a new hour every year, but that doesn't mean the quality will always be top-notch.

Also, themes can be limiting. I'm sure there are some themed shows out there that would be better if they were just freestyle, if the comedian let themselves say all their best stuff, rather than cutting good material due to not being on theme. Or adding weaker material because it is on theme.

So that’s an American going on a British person’s podcast to tell them how fucked up the British comedy system is. I’ve made this compilation to compare it to a British person going on an American’s podcast, in which the American thinks the British system is great and in fact what he wants to do as well. Nish Kumar on Mike Birbiglia’s podcast, from just a couple of years ago. It’s an interesting contrast. A couple of people have told me before that Mike Birbiglia is like a British comedian but in the form of an American person. Including @my-excellent-bicycle, who told me ages ago that he's very good, and I said I'd watch him, and then I didn't, so sorry about that. Absolutely no offence to any of the people who'd already told me about him, but I have to admit, when the "Mike Birbiglia is so cool, he's like an American who does British comedy" endorsement comes from Nish Kumar, that does mean a little extra. Enough so I have now downloaded Mike Birbiglia's stuff, will listen to it next.

I can't really speak to the accuracy of what Nish Kumar said in that clip, since I haven't yet actually heard Mike Birbiglia’s shows. But I see what Nish means. He means shows that are built around one topic and/or narrative and/or theme and/or message, and stay on that, or at least around it and vaguely adjacent to it, for an hour.

Later in the 2021 podcast episode from which I took that Kumar/Birbiglia clip, Nish mentioned that actually, even though this is a generally British thing to do, he personally doesn’t tend to do it much, and he’d like to do it more. That was true, as of then. I’ve heard Nish’s 2014 (might have been originally his 2013 show, actually, whichever one got recorded for the Soho Live thing on Amazon Prime), 2016, and 2019 shows, and none of them were all that structured. They were coherent, particularly the latter two, which stayed on the topic of politics. Even that earlier one had some throughlines and underlying bits that kept coming back. But he didn’t do a really carefully constructed narrative show until 2022, the one that just had a video come out, Your Power Your Control.

So I found it interesting to hear Nish Kumar in 2021, just before he wrote Your Power Your Control, say he’d like to do more narrative-type stuff. And then the next year, he did it. Good for him. Nish Kumar just did a new episode of the Comedian’s Comedian podcast as well – it was recorded very recently, to go with the release of his latest special – and in that one, he mentioned that he was pleased with the way he managed to Birbiglia-fy this show in a way he hadn’t done with previous ones, making it a structured narrative the way Mike Birbiglia does. But actually, the way most British comedians do, and apparently this one American guy that it’s time for me to check out.

Then I added a clip of David O’Doherty from a very recent podcast, in which he talks about getting backlash from Americans for not being what they expect, which is just a bunch of unconnected jokes. I added that clip to the conversation because he brings up Hannah Gadsby and Nannette, and I think that’s an interesting point.

Hannah Gadsby got a huge amount of backlash for Nannette, and most of it was misogynistic. Not all of it, I guess. I guess it’s technically possible for someone to just really not like Hannah Gadsby’s style of humour, and they hated Nannette for perfectly legitimate reasons. Just like probably, some of those people on those cesspits of toxicity that were those Josie Long-related comedy message board threads in 2007, just legitimately did not share her sense of humour. Maybe one or two of them. But mainly, it’s the misogyny.

However, DO’D makes an interesting point about Hannah Gadsby’s show. Most “Edinburgh hour”-style shows do not get as massively world famous as Nannette did. So they got hit with misogynistic backlash, but it was fueled by the fact that it was being seen by a lot of Americans who are not used to that type of comedy, and just don’t understand. They thought Hannah was taking the respectable genre of doing 50 punchlines in 20 minutes, and making a mockery of it. Just because it was the first time they’d seen a comedy show with some sad bits. They thought Hannah Gadsby was doing comedy wrong.

So many people – mostly American people – who saw Nannette didn’t realize that ending a show with 10-15 minutes of sad bits is so commonplace in certain comedy circles that it’s also common to make fun of it. You hear comedians all the time, make jokes about the standard hour that’s funny for a while and then has a sad bit. There’s even a term for it: dead dad show. A dead dad show isn’t just a show about a dead dad. It’s any show that’s funny for a while but also poignant and touching and sentimental and has sad bits at the end and wants to make you cry as well as laugh. People joke about it because it’s been done a lot, it’s been done in some hack ways and some bad ways, it’s also been done in some brilliant ways, it runs the gauntlet like anything else.

It’s fine for people to say they’re not into that kind of thing. But Nannette got so big that people who’d never heard of that genre started seeing it, and they had no idea what they were seeing. So that’s how they ended up saying Hannah is not a comedian, this isn’t comedy, Hannah tricked a comedy-expecting audience into seeing a one-woman show! How dare you bring trauma into a comedy show? As though comedians talking about trauma aren’t a dime a dozen in Britain and Australia.

And I think that has pros and cons too. I like a show that works some serious stuff in, that has some deep personal or political message. But also, sometimes, people have a point when they say a comedy show has focused so much on the personal or political messages/trauma dumping that it forgot to also be funny (not with Nanette, though, people forget that Nanette had lots of good jokes in the first 45 minutes, it was a funny show, people just watch clips that have been cut from the last little bit and are then say this so-called comedy show isn't funny). And I guess it's up to each individual comedy audience member how much humour they'll allow a show to sacrifice for other stuff before they get sick of it. How much sad stuff or angry stuff or introspective stuff or educational stuff or heartwarming stuff or philosophical stuff or narrative stuff a show can have at the expense of funny stuff, before they'll say, "Okay, I need more comedy than this in my comedy shows." But I think it's a pretty shallow view of what comedy can be if you're not okay with a show that has any of that other stuff.

I am conflating Britain/Ireland and Australia/NZ quite a bit in this post, and that’s because I think when it comes to this sort of thing, they’re very similar. I’m also conflating Canada and the US, because I think they’re similar, in that neither of have this tradition that I’m pretty sure developed at Edinburgh and MICF. And I’m not talking about any other countries because as far as my comedy knowledge goes, those may as well be the only ones that exist (sorry Anuvab Pal and Aditi Mittal, I do know a couple from India too, but as far as I can tell, the special type of comedy they do in India is “say some stuff and hope you don’t get arrested for it”).

There is an obvious reason for that: Australia has a festival that’s similar to Edinburgh. British and Irish (and Irish, sorry for having forgotten to add “and Irish” in the earlier bits of this post, I just saw Dara O’Briain’s newest special – called So Where Were We, just released by the BBC, by the way, I recommend it – and it’s chock full of trauma, proving the Irish can do dead dad/never met my dad shows with the best of them) comedians develop their careers around Edinburgh, and Australian/NZ comedians develop their careers around the Melbourne Comedy Festival. North America doesn’t have anything like that.

Obviously North America has yearly festivals too, but not ones that are so big that every single comedian in the area wraps their whole career around it. I think the only one big enough to do that around here would be Just For Laughs, but Just For Laughs isn’t nearly the same thing, since people have to audition for it. You can’t just set up a show and show up. People can’t start writing a show in September with the assumption that they’ll take it to JFL next summer, because unless they’re already very famous, they can’t be sure they’ll be accepted into JFL’s lineup.

I found the David O’Doherty clip interesting, as he lists storytelling shows as just one of the many things that are, in fact, comedy, but get called “this isn’t comedy” by mostly Americans on the internet. But also, it’s not like all Americans just do 50 punchlines in 20 minutes and that’s it. They do lots of stuff! They have alternative comedy there, and at this point I’m getting out of my depth, because I have a sort of idea in my head of what American alternative comedy means – the vague idea involves things like Eugene Mirman and Fred Armisen and Kristen Schaal and improv shows in New York – but I don’t really know what I’m talking about. This post would be better if I knew what I was talking about more.

I guess the basic rule I’m working with is: British/Irish/Aussie/NZ do a new hour every year and it has themes and throughlines and narratives and coherent structure and they workshop it all year and then take it to Edinburgh and then scrap all that material and do a new one. And American comedians just write one joke(/bit/funny story, not just the classic type of one-liner “joke”) at a time, and at any given time are performing the combination of their best crop of jokes, and whenever they write a new joke it replaces the worst one in their set, so they evolve that way. I’m trying to understand why that difference exists, and part of the problem with my efforts to understand that is I don’t really know what I’m talking about, and the other part of the problem is that stating the difference that way is a massive oversimplification. It’s difficult to understand why a phenomenon exists if that phenomenon doesn’t really exist in nearly as simple a way as I’ve stated it here.

I know there are exceptions to that rule I just stated, even though I’ve not listened to any Mike Birbiglia yet. For a really famous example, I watched John Mulaney’s new show Baby J earlier this year (fuck him for the Dave Chapelle thing, the divorce and addiction are his own business and people who don’t know him shouldn’t have tried to get involved in his personal life, but fuck him for the Dave Chapelle thing, I didn’t watch his new show in any way that could translate to view count/profit for him – but I did love all his previous shows and was curious about what’s in the new one so I watched it), and that was pretty much all around one story. Even Hari Kondabolu’s new-ish special has a little bit of a theme, about being political while having a kid. And there are plenty of others, so it’s not like this stuff doesn’t happen in America. And there are plenty of British comedians who just do one joke at a time.

I don’t know – I’m not completely making this dichotomy up, right? That’s why I made that compilation in the video at the top of this post. Other people talking about that thing I’m talking about and proving that it is somewhat based in reality. It would help if I knew more about American comedy. You can’t really compare British and American comedy unless you know quite a bit about both, and I don’t know nearly enough about American to really understand this.

That’s why I asked my brother about it the other night, because he’s been doing comedy in Canada for a long time and most of the comedy he watches/likes is American. I asked him if he knows what I mean when I talk about this dichotomy, and why it may or may not exist. And he didn’t really know what I’m talking about, which means 1) the difference is so significant that someone who mainly follows North American comedy doesn’t even know about the dead dad Edinburgh show so can’t compare anything to it, and/or 2) I didn’t explain it very well. Because we had a whole conversation where at some point I realized we were talking past each other. He was using the word “alt” a lot, and it meant one thing to him and a different thing to me, so neither of us really knew what the other was talking about.

That in itself is interesting to me, because it shows that comedy is too big to really make these generalizations. You can’t talk about “alt comedy” as a coherent thing, because it means wildly different things in wildly different places. You can’t talk about “British comedy” or “American comedy” because Britain and America both have a lot of people in them who all do wildly different things.

At some point in my conversation with my brother, I said that when I say storytelling comedy I mean “like the thing Mike Birbiglia does”, and he has seen some Mike Birbiglia but says he doesn’t think what he does is particularly different from what most American comedians do, and I couldn’t refute that because I haven’t actually heard Mike Birbiglia yet. All I could say on that was… well one time I heard Nish Kumar say Birbiglia is like a British comedian, so that’s probably true, right?

So I really don’t know what I’m talking about well enough to understand this, or even explain it. Then again, my brother told me that he thinks British comedians write regular jokes in a way that American comedians don’t, and I said no, I think of the opposite as being true, and when I asked him for examples of why he thinks British comedians are like that, he said Jimmy Carr and Ricky Gervais. So he may not know enough about British comedy to know what he’s talking about. Is it possible that no one knows what they’re talking about? That’s kind of interesting to me too, I assume anyone who actually does comedy must know everything about it. I mean, I try really hard to know about comedy, but I don’t know nearly enough about it to properly do it. So the people who do do it know way more than I do and understand everything. But my brother’s been doing it 13 years, had traveled to perform in the States and nearby cities somewhat often, never made enough money from it to quit his day job but has made quite a lot of money from it over the years, and he may also not know what he’s talking about.

At some point we got talking about recorded comedy, and he said when he listens to audio-only comedy, and then watches a video of those people, he’s often surprised because he was picturing someone young and hot but it turns out to be a balding man in his fifties. I said that often, I can hear hours and hours of audio-only comedy by someone, and have an image of them in my head, and then see a picture of them, and I’m always surprised by how different the picture looks. Because I’m always picturing a person in their forties or fifties, maybe a bit overweight, slightly balding if it’s a cis man, and then I’m often surprised to learn they’re actually around my age or younger (many exceptions there too, Kitson is currently mid-40s and balding but I tend to picture him the way he looked in 2003, though I’m sort of updating my mental image of him now). Which I’m pretty sure says something about the difference between the comedy I watch and the comedy my brother watches, that we have such different images in our head of the “default comedian”, what we picture when we don’t know how someone really looks.

This may or may not be related to the fact that my brother recently started putting clips of his own comedy on Tik-Tok, and has things to say about how the engagement is going that make me despair at the soullessness of humanity. So what does he know? At some point I worked out that when he talks about writing jokes in a classic way, he doesn’t just mean one-liners, he means anyone who actually writes their material instead of just doing crowd work and “comedian destroys heckler” videos for social media. Apparently doing anything besides that is old school now, and he thinks British comedians do more old school stuff than American comedians, and again, I despair at the soullessness of humanity. But to be fair to America, I’m sure there are plenty of soulless British comedians on Tik-Tok too.

That’s part of it though, isn’t it? That my brother thinks of Tik-Tok-type comedy as American and British comedy as stuff that doesn’t do that. You can’t cut out a clip of a good dead dad show and put those 90 seconds on social media. I mean, you could, and I guess some people do, but that’ll ruin it. The British Edinburgh hours need their context, the good ones aren’t nearly as good without it. But maybe American comedy can be clipped more easily, since it’s not written to all flow together. But also, British comedians cut bits of their show out all the time to shoehorn into their twenty seconds of screentime on a panel show. Stewart Lee had a whole thing about that like 15 years ago, how no comedian can be that funny if their set can be cut up for a panel show. But, you know, we can’t all be Stewart Lee (though it’s my understanding that many people have tried). I’m pretty sure this is the sort of thing Stewart Lee knows about, and has strong opinions about. That was my mistake, asking the wrong comedian. I asked my brother, I should have been asking Stewart Lee.

So I still don't have an answer to who invented the dead dad show. I mean, I think I might know that one, Russell Kane may have invented the shows about dead dads specifically. But I don't know how the storytelling comedy with sad bits and themes started, or why it took off in Britain/Australia and not in North America, or if it's even true to say that happened. I feel like Kitson invented it, because it feels a bit like Kitson invented everything, but I know he didn't. I feel like Stewart Lee knows who invented it - I don't feel like he invented it, because he's constantly talking about the alt-comedy godfathers (gendered term there, but they were mostly fathers and not mothers at that time, that is an issue) from the 70s and 80s on whose shoulders he stands. And I don't really know anything about those people, so that doesn't help.

There's a guy named Oliver Double and I think he knows. I just got paid again, my bank account is looking a bit more stable than it did a little while ago, I think I'm going to buy his books. I'm also going to listen to Mike Birbiglia, I'll let you all know if he knows anything. Maybe most people don't know anything. Maybe everything has a smaller cause than I assume and we'd all be living in a radically different comedy world if Russell Kane's dad were still alive. Maybe it's fine to think the British comedy style is to write classic jokes because Jimmy Carr tours arenas and therefore gets to be their representative. Maybe the storytelling/pure joke telling comedy dichotomy doesn't even matter anymore, it's all about the dichotomy between improvised stuff on Tik-Tok and anyone who actually writes material now. Maybe improv just means crowd work now? But I hope not.

...This was going to be a post about how Hari Kondabolu thinks British comedians should scrap the concept of "recycling material" being bad, and just tell their best jokes even if they don't all fit a theme. Then I had a conversation with my brother the confused me and now I don't know. Does anyone else know anything that they want to share?

[poetzproblem]

Hey Poetz! Can you tell me a little bit more about Rachel having to leave to go on tour with les mis? What was the night before she had to leave like? What did they do? What were they feeling? Did Quinn come with her to the airport? How was their “goodbye”?

Answered with a short ficlet:

--

There are two packed suitcases standing in the corner of their bedroom. Rachel loathes seeing them there. She resents that she had to pack them. She’d whined and complained the entire time, but Quinn had been insistent despite the stark red tinge to her eyes that belied her unwavering demeanor.  

“I don’t wanna go,” Rachel mumbles dejectedly, arms crossed and glaring at the bags from her seat on the edge of their bed. “You can’t make me.”

Quinn sighs sadly, jostling the mattress as she sinks down beside her. “I’m not exactly happy about this either, Rachel, but you need to go.” Hearing those words fall so easily from Quinn’s lips feels like a knife in her chest. “You signed a contract.” 

Rachel whips her head to the side to glare at her girlfriend. “You made me do it!”

Quinn arches an eyebrow, only mildly amused with Rachel’s melodramatic antics. “We talked about this.” Though some of the talking had sounded suspiciously like arguing. “You have wanted to play Eponine since you were eight years old. It’s your number four role after Fanny Brice, Evita, and Laurey from Oklahoma.”

“On Broadway, Quinn,” Rachel reminds her petulantly. She wants to play those roles on a Broadway stage.  “I’m going to Kentucky, which in case you’ve forgotten, is nowhere near Broadway.”  She tosses her hands up in frustration. “It’s practically back to Lima!”

Quinn sighs again, really more of a huff this time, and she looks far less amused if still generally miserable for all the same reasons that Rachel is—the six month separation that’s looming over them as the clock silently ticks down to Rachel’s flight tomorrow morning. “It’s a Broadway tour,” she reminds Rachel gently, reaching for her flailing hand and catching it to hold on tight. “You can’t pass up this opportunity, sweetheart, no matter how much we both wish you were staying here.” 

Rachel bites her lip in an attempt to stave off the tears that want to escape. “I know,” she practically whispers, finally surrendering to the inevitable. 

She’d spent four months auditioning for anything and everything she could find, but nothing more than a few voice overs had panned out. She’d been on the verge of desperation when Evelyn had pointed her at the opening in the touring company for Les Miserables. She’d been so dejected by then that she’d fully expected another rejection after her audition and hadn’t even let herself consider the touring part until she was being offered the role. 

Her first instinct had been to turn it down because leaving New York (and being away from Quinn for so long) was not an option. But Quinn had argued that she should do it, that it was an amazing opportunity, that it was only a six month contract, and Quinn would never forgive herself if Rachel gave up one of her dream roles for some misplaced sense of obligation to her. 

That had caused a few arguments. Her commitment to Quinn and their relationship is in no way misplaced. (And maybe she’d been—still is—a bit worried that six months apart could fray the edges of their still settling foundation. Out of sight, out of mind, and all that.) They trust each other, of course they do, but they both still have their moments of insecurity, and being hundreds, maybe even thousands, of miles apart when one of those moments strikes is going to suck so much. 

Quinn pulls Rachel’s hand into her lap and cradles it with her own, staring down at them. “We’ll talk every day, and we can have Skype dates whenever we’re able,” she recites softly, a noticeable tremor in her voice that betrays her own sorrow over their necessary separation. “And I’ll come see you as much as I can.” 

That last part sounds wonderful, but, “You have a job, Quinn.”  She’s a very busy assistant editor at a major publishing company. She can’t just go on the road as a Broadway groupie, no matter how much Rachel wishes she could. 

Quinn shrugs, finally lifting her glistening eyes to meet Rachel’s gaze. “You’ll have a few weekend shows close enough for a quick trip. I can make it work. I already have a ticket for Philadelphia next month.” 

Well, there’s really no way to stop those tears now. Rachel feels them spill out, blurring her vision, and she smiles through them. “I love you so much.”

A matching tear appears on Quinn’s eyelashes, delicately dancing down her cheek. “I love you too, and I’ll miss you every minute.” She lets go of Rachel’s hand so she can shuffle closer on the mattress, pressing a comforting palm over Rachel’s back. “But we’ll get through the next few months, and then you’ll be back home, winning all of your dream roles and playing to packed houses right here where you belong.”

Rachel loves the way that sounds; loves that Quinn’s belief in her is forever constant and unshakeable. She gently cups Quinn’s cheek, brushing her thumb across the lingering trail of moisture there. “And coming home to you every night,” she murmurs, fresh adoration blooming in her heart for this woman. “That’s the most important part.” 

“It is,” Quinn agrees, leaning closer. “And tonight I’m going to make sure you remember exactly what you’ll be coming home to.” 

Rachel inhales quickly, enthralled by the intent in those hazel eyes. “As if I could ever forget.” Every moment spent in Quinn Fabray’s presence, every word and touch and expression, is practically woven into the very fabric of Rachel’s being at this point. 

The hand on her back moves down and around to curl over her leg. “Better to make sure, wouldn’t you agree?” 

“Uh huh,” is Rachel’s very elegant response right before Quinn’s lips render any further verbal responses entirely infeasible. 

It’s slow, this kiss, languid and unhurried, as if they have all the time in the world when that’s never been less true. They have a single night together, mere hours, before they’ll call a taxi to the airport where Quinn will kiss Rachel one last time before they bid farewell.  The thought of that brings fresh tears to Rachel’s eyes despite the heat blossoming low in her belly, and Quinn notices immediately.

“No. No tears tonight, Rachel,” she commands, though her voice trembles with emotion. 

“I can’t help it.” She hugs Quinn to her as tightly as she can in their awkward position. “I’m going to miss you so much.”  

“Miss me tomorrow.” Quinn kisses away the tears on one cheek and then the other. “Be here with me now.” 

A simple, heartfelt request that Rachel can’t deny, not when she can see every emotion that she’s feeling right now reflected back to her in Quinn’s beseeching gaze. So she pushes away all those sad, intrusive thoughts about tomorrow and focuses on Quinn—only Quinn. The firm softness of her lips, the sure touch of her hands, and the radiant warmth of her body as it presses into Rachel, urging her down into the mattress. She lets Quinn strip away her clothes, piece-by-piece, and then does the same to Quinn, eyes drinking in every inch of naked skin as it’s revealed to her.

They only have hours, but they spend them relearning every curve and dip and blemish of one another’s bodies. Rachel paints a memory with her fingertips, conducts a symphony of sighs and moans and whispers of love to replay in lonely hotel rooms in the months to come. And when exhaustion finally forces them into a sated sleep, sweat-soaked skin molded together in a tangle of limbs, she sinks into dreams of hazel eyes and husky promises of love that will carry her home. 

[twoidiotwriters1]

Copycat: Genesis —(Marvel Fem!Oc)

A/N: Pls pray for me so I can get tickets to the Eras tour 😭 also I watched Spider-verse I’m: unwell & I also really love this chapter -Danny

Words: 2,164

Phase Six Masterlist

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Listen to: ‘Clocks’ -by Coldplay

xxviii: Homecoming

Cat decided to go and spend the night at Matt's place. The mutant left her apartment using everyday clothes, she'd been Copycat for almost two whole weeks. She also made a point to knock on his door instead of teleporting.

The man welcomed her in with a short laugh. She thought he'd be mad because she hadn't called, but he turned around and spoke to someone in his living room. "You guys are in luck!"

Karen and Foggy's voices came from inside the home causing Cat's heart to jump out of her chest. She beamed and jumped into Karen's arms squeezing her tightly. "Oh my god!"

"I'm so happy to see you!" The woman said. "Where have you been?" Her blue eyes landed on Cat's scars and her smile faltered.

"Take a seat, you have to eat with us it's the law," Foggy handed her a can of regular coke.

"You didn't call," Matt said, though he was smiling as much as the others.

"Well, I'm here," she replied. "Isn't that better?"

"Much better!" Karen exclaimed. "Are you in the mood for Mexican, or..?"

"Whatever you want. I haven't eaten, I was moving back in."

"Back where?" Matt asked promptly.

"The city," she smiled. "I'll stay here for a while."

He understood what she meant. "Good to hear."

"That's amazing! We're hiring, if you're interested," Foggy offered.

Matt laughed. "I don't think she'll have time to work as our secretary, Foggy."

"I'll think about it," she conceded. "But this means you're doing well, I hope?"

"It certainly takes up most of our time, we need someone to help us handle the office," Karen admitted. "I would love to work with you, but Matt's right, you have stuff going on."

The way they were all looking at Cat amused her. They all knew she wasn't a regular woman, but she doubted Karen had disclosed to Matt and Foggy what she suspected, and probably she didn't know about Foggy's discovery.

"Well, I just came back from a mission with Nightcrawler and now he's shipping Billy Russo to prison, so I have an empty schedule at the moment."

"Nice!" Foggy paused. "Wait." He looked at Karen, then at Matt. "She also knows?!"

Karen glanced at him. "You didn't?"

"How long have you known? Always?"

"Kinda," she shrugged. "Cat never confirmed it. I mean..." She looked back at the young woman and smiled. "Copycat?"

Cat laughed and nodded. "Yeah, that's me."

"How did you know?!"

Karen vaguely gestured at her. "Name and hair are kind of the same, only a different color... not like she tries to hide her face either—"

"She always wears that mask, what do you mean?" Foggy demanded.

"All you had to do was look into it," Karen insisted. "We came back and Matt had a new, younger friend with no connections, if you'd asked around you would've known Copycat was in the area during the blip, and Matt doesn't go out of his way to make friends."

The man frowned, grinning as he spoke. "I'm sociable enough."

"Sure you are, Matty," Karen patted the man's knee.

Cat opened her drink and downed it pleasantly. This was the nicest welcome she could've hoped for.

"Well?"

"Russo's not a problem anymore."

"I'm assuming I'm off the hook?"

"You should still be careful. As the CEO—"

"I have my own paranoia to deal with, please stop. Have you talked to Happy?"

"That is one dumb question."

"He knows you're back."

"I expected no less."

"He wants to see you."

"Many people do," she sighed. "I miss him, but I can't visit everyone while Kraven is out there. I have to deal with that first."

"You're still thinking about a new team of Avengers?"

"Well, I know most heroes on earth," she shrugged. "I'll give them a call."

"Kurt called me."

"Did he mention Deadpool?"

"Who's Deadpool?"

"Why did he call you?" Cat changed the subject, she could only imagine the way he'd freak out if he knew about her friendship with the mercenary.

"He says that you liked living in the other universe."

She laughed. "I wonder why he thinks that. I just said it was nice."

"He says that you told him and it sounded like you wanted out of this one."

Cat rolled her eyes. "He's got it wrong!"

"Spider-man existed in that other universe," he added in that voice she'd always hated, the one he used when he was trying to win an argument.

"Yes."

"A Spider-man your age."

Her heart started racing. "I don't care, I don't see why you guys would. It's in the past."

"He was the reason you became who you are now, Stray. Losing him changed you," he pressed, and he wasn't wrong. "You've lost him too many times, it's okay to feel worn out about it when it keeps coming back like that—"

"I didn't lose him 'cause this Spider-man wasn't even mine, to begin with," she scowled. Why were her friends pressing on that subject? "Just because I told Kurt that I would go hang out with that other guy—"

"You are?"

"My point is," she raised her voice in annoyance. "I'm trying my best, Harley. You know how much I love running, but you two coming at me like I'm packing my bags is not helping."

The young man paused, whether he believed her or not she couldn't tell, but at least he sounded a little ashamed when he spoke. "That's not what we're doing. We want to make sure... We're listening."

"I see that," she replied, though she didn't think much about what he meant by that. "And I love you more than I've ever loved any Spider-man."

"I... would like to believe that," he said, and she could almost picture his wistful expression.

He and Kurt had to stop saying that, but she really couldn't blame them. The mutant was well aware of why she'd befriended Harley in the first place, back when she was eighteen. Whom he reminded her of, and even if he didn't remember the boy's name or face, he still knew Spider-man was at the core of everything.

"Keep me posted," he said before ending the call. "I'd like to know how things are going from time to time."

"Same goes for you," she murmured. "G'night, Junior."

"You fought with your friends again?"

She pondered her response. "It isn't a fight when both sides are defending the same thing. They're trying to help, but the way they're doing it is not quite right... Though I change so often they can't keep up..."

"At least you don't decline their help, and I'm sure you're communicating better..."

"Matt," she warned him, and he let out a short chuckle.

"Right, you hate it when I do that... you used to love it when I pointed out the ways you were doing well."

"Looking for approval is no longer trendy," she joked. "I don't want people to treat me like this. I get why Tony got upset every time anyone clapped and cheered when he showed decency. It's a little humiliating."

Matt unbuttoned the first part of his shirt while walking toward his room. "Are you staying the night?"

Her eyes lingered on his back, then she shook her head. "No. I'm going back to my apartment... before I ruin my good streak of exemplary behavior."

He laughed, closing the sliding door so he could change. "Stay strong, Kitty."

She scowled and flipped him off even though there was a wall between them (he'd be able to tell anyway). Cat then seized her jacket and walked away from a half-naked Matthew.

Peter had time to waste, and he asked Cat if she'd like to visit May's grave. They could go to Pietro's after. She agreed.

Peter showed up with a bouquet of white roses, he waved at her as she walked up to him. "I come every week, winter's over so I'll have to change her flowers more often, but if you want to leave some of your own you're welcome to..."

Cat looked up at the trees around them, they were greener than the last time she'd set foot in the cemetery, and it was a pretty sight. When Peter had buried his aunt, her memory had been erased, so she hadn't been there at the funeral, she felt a little guilty about it.

"How've you been holding up?" She asked him.

"I'm okay," he shrugged. "I'm in a hurry most of the time, don't get to sit and think about it. I guess that's good, it keeps me from getting sad."

"Do you have time to enjoy life, though?"

Peter laughed shortly. "Do you?"

Cat grinned. "When was the last time we hung out just to waste time?"

Peter squinted, trying to remember. "I go to a study group but sometimes we get bored and start playing Among Us?"

She snorted. "I don't think that counts."

He sighed. "It's something..."

"Better than nothing," she finished.

Peter stopped in front of his aunt and uncle's grave and stared at it with a pensive expression, he crouched and left the flowers in front of it. "I want to live a worthy life for them, C. That's all I care about." Cat tried not to, but a little giggle left her lips. Without being able to help it, she started laughing out loud. Peter looked up at her with annoyance. "What's so funny?"

"It's absurd," she shook her head. "I had the same conversation with Shuri and she said the same thing... more or less."

"What's wrong with that?" He frowned, still not understanding.

"It's perfectly normal, but what's hilarious is that when I went through it everyone acted like I was losing my goddamn mind for dropping my plans just to honor dead people. I remember you were outraged at the thought—"

"Yeah, yeah, shut up," he lowered his face in embarrassment. "I didn't know how it felt... to lose someone close to you because of what you do... it changes everything."

She patted his shoulder. "You handled it faster and better than I did. I mean, you didn't quit school, and you didn't go on a killing spree. I like to think you learned from me. Makes it all worth it." The word caused something like annoyance to raise up on her chest.

Peter nodded. "I did learn from you, C. I owe you a lot." He stared at his aunt's grave with a soft gaze.

"Worthy," she said, her mind still on the subject. "We throw that word around a lot, all of us," Cat made a face. "Do we even know what we're talking about? Why do we think that means living all alone and broken? Why do we treat that like it's something noble and not just cowardly and incoherent?"

Peter stared up at her curiously, he didn't have a proper answer to that. His mouth blurted out the second thought that came to him. "Any idea of where Kraven is?"

"Probably on his way," she said, eyes still absent. "I'll see him when I see him, I won't give him the pleasure to feel like I'm participating in the hunt."

"Don't you think you're giving him the benefit to take you by surprise? Isn't that a hunter's line of expertise?"

Cat sighed, looking back at him. "What am I supposed to do, Pete? I could go find him, but I don't know... feels like a waste of my time."

"Are you saying you have something better to do than to save your life?" He raised a brow.

"Regrouping the Avengers, finding a place where to train the new heroes... basically rebuild my home and make it better than it ever was," she nudged his leg with one foot. "Would you be interested in that?"

"In getting recruited, or training heroes?"

"Whatever you prefer."

He pondered the options. "Depends."

"On what?"

"If it's not in the city, I won't do it."

She raised a brow. "You sound sure."

"I am."

Cat nodded with an approving smile. "New York's lucky to have you."

"It has you, too."

"I don't stay in places long enough to consider they have me," she wrinkled her nose. "Not my thing."

"You've been here for a decade, though."

"In and out."

"And why do you always come back here?" Peter asked with genuine curiosity.

"I've been thinking about it," she said deep in thought. "I'm home, Peter. My body, and what I do with it. As for why I keep coming back..." Cat grinned. "All the cute people live here."

Peter snorted. "What about L.A? You could live there with Kate and Yelena..."

Cat grimaced. "I don't want to give her false hopes. She would convince herself that we could get back together, that I could have a life with her, she's always been a dreamer..."

"Right," he heaved a sigh. "Keep forgetting you think dreams are useless."

She mumbled a reply. "Not useless. Just unbearable..."

"Cat," Peter stood up again after leaving the flowers, a worried look on his face. "What are you waiting for, really?"

"Nothing."

"Uh-huh," he said, not believing her. "And I don't walk past MJ's coffee shop every day."

Cat looked at him with a smirk. "You do that?"

"I said I don't," he raised a brow, shoving her shoulder playfully as he walked past.

"You're a stalker," she chuckled, following him back to the entrance.

"It's getting late," Peter checked the hour on his phone. When he put it back, the young man placed his arm around her shoulders and walked alongside her, leaning his head on top of hers affectionately for a moment. "C'mon, time to see Pietro..."

Next Chapter—>

Taglist.

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[comequicklysir]

Hi hello, I have nothing to gif, and I attended my fifth kpop this weekend, and thought I would rate/share my experiences for no reason other than maybe help others figure out the way of kpop concerts and etc  BTS - 9/10  I attended their “love yourself world tour” in Berlin in 2018, I travelled to Berlin from my country (Denmark) to attend the concert. The ticketing experience to bts is a nightmare, even back in 2018 - I still don’t know how we managed to get tickets, because everything was sold out in minutes. I’ve heard it’s even worse now. The cueing for bts outside the arena and merch is an even bigger nightmare, I don’t know if Mercedez Benz Arena has fixed their “we let everyone in the seated areas through the same ten doors) issue but the line was so long it wrapped around the buildings and we only got in like twenty minutes before start, I didn’t go for merch but my friend I travelled with did and she stood in line from six in the morning till four in the afternoon and she got none of the things she wanted and only got a small keychain with a members name on (not even one of her biases), I hope bighit/hybe fixed the merch hell. The concert itself though!! Sadly we were one of the ones affected by Jungkooks foot injury, so he was seated, but he slayed the vocals from his seated position and did little dances in his seat it was cute. The boys can dance though, have incredibly energy, and are so in sync, but I will say the one thing about bts when they go on stage is they are such a unit, when they interact with each other and in each others presence you can feel how much of a close relationship they have with each other and it really brings everything to the next level. I have no complaints to their performance at all, and will always recommend that anyone should go to a bts concert before they die because there is nothing like it. The only dislike I had (which will be a common theme with two other bands too) is that the translator was ofc german, which meant for a good portion of the concert (whenever there was talking) me and my friends had no clue what was going on. But this isn’t really something that brought down their performance or my overall view, it was just kind of like “ugh” not knowing what they were saying, but that comes with travelling to other countries to see concerts.  Monsta X - 8/10

I can’t remember what this world tour was called, but it was the one in Berlin in 2019. I was a casual fan of them when I went in, and boy did I come out loving them and their performance energy. This concert also had absolute hell cueing outside the arena, I generally hope this has gotten better with the years and as the arena has held more kpop concert, but this one we got in an hour before even though the doors opened two hours before. Me and my friend wanted to get lightsticks at the concert, and they were sold out, and at first we thought they must have sold a lot then, but when we sat down in the arena ... no lie, so many people were without lightsticks, and it just seemed like the company had underestimated how many people needed lightsticks in the crowd. Major minus point to the company. HOWEVER, the boys were amazing! they had so much energy, their vocals and rap were 100% live (which bts were too, didn’t mention that, but you could clearly hear with both these bands that everything was live), I genuinly came out a bigger fan than when I entered and listened to their music so much afterwards, it was such a good experience and if they came to my country I would totally go see them again. This concert ofc also had the german translator, except for I.M who spoke in english, which again was like “ugh” but again not really something that affected my view of the group or their performance. Would totally recommend going to see them if you have the chance, you won’t regret it.  Got7 - 4/10 Now, before I start I will say this was one of their last tour if not the last tour before they left JYP and I think that might have affected their creative vision of how they wanted this concert to look and sound like, and JB was also sick during this concert and left before it was over, so I think you should keep that in mind because I definitly think that affected a great part of why this concert didn’t work, for me atleast. I have been a casual fan of got7 since their debut, me and my friend who also saw monsta x, have listened to them since their debut and now a lot of their songs and also have seen a lot of variety content for got7, so we went in with higher expecations than we went in for Monsta x. But something just felt slightly off for this concert, the stage itself was kind of boring - they didn’t really have anything that set it apart visually form other concerts, it was mostly just screeneffects and then them. The mood also felt a little bit off, not like they didn’t wanna be there, but just it felt like it wasn’t like their prime that night and it might have been because their leader was sick for a big portion of the concert. Dancing wise they were amazing, vocal wise - though live and no backing track - they didn’t always sound as clear as monsta x and bts, but I think that could also just be circumstancial, I don’t think bts and monsta x have sounded perfect every day in their career, so. One of their vcr’s was a comedy bit, which is ofc on brand, but it was quite long and they had put on german subtitles for the berlin tour stop, which meant me and my friend spent a lot of very long minutes amongst laughing people not understanding what was going on at all, and the people around us we asked if they could translate just ignored us, which was quite rude. Overall just not the best concert experience for us, I probably wouldn’t go see them again, but I do think people should go see them and make their own judgement especially because I’m quite sure we might have just caught them on a bad day or year. I will also add that Bambam basically carried the energy of this concert, he has incredible crowd control and really knows how to interact with the crowd and make them laugh and have energy, and he’s not even my bias.  Blackpink - 6/10 Now I saw blackpink in december in my home country, and there’s several points I wanna make. I don’t think Blackpink are bad performers, dancers or singers as some commenters on social media would make it out to be, but as someone who attended this tour I do think with the time in their hiatus ... this could have been better. Now first for plus sides of this concert experience, it was the first concert in my home country and it was just nice that I could go home afterwards and not to a hotel. Yg has their merchandise under control!! there was basically no cue, they had every size left even though me and my friend came very last minute when the doors opened. Blackpink had an entire section where they spend several minutes showcasing their dancers and band, letting them have the stage alone and I have never seen this at a concert before and I loved it and it really showed respect to the people they work with. They also had practiced several phrases in danish, which I also felt was so respectful to the country they were in and the people they were performing for. Their vcrs are amazing, beautiful and stunning and practically look like etherial perfume commercials. Rosé and Jennie were overpowering the backing track several times. Jennie and Lisa have incredible stage presence in terms of how they are in their facial expression, they really know to navigate that according to what song is being performed and what is being sung. Jisoo can dance!! she nailed that choreography for her solo performance, not just nailed it, she was incredible. Now for negatives: Let’s be honest, if ur going to a blackpink concert for choreography, ur in the wrong place. At most their choreographys is them swinging their arms around a lot, doing varies forms of catwalks whilst singing or rapping, and ocasionally you’ll get minimal footwork. They aren’t really a dancing choreography hard hitting group, and I think that’s fine and I think it’s time blinks admit that and just roll with what we get. For me I do think at times the girls could benefit from ditching the catwalking waving arm choreo for some of their b side tracks and just lets the dancers do their thing while sing and rap and be artists, I don’t really think they need to have choreo for all their songs, and sometimes it feels like they shove some easy choreo in their just to have it. Jennie’s solo is amazing, and I love the direction for it and the sound of it, BUT I do think it kind of sucks that you go out of the concert not being able to hear it (probably ever again bc lets face it yg aint releasing shit unless they really have to), where as had it been “solo” being performed u could go home and listen to it and repeat it, you can’t really do that with this. Jisoo not having her solo before this tour started, is criminal, yg had two years to get that out and I absolutely think that should have been a priority, because even if Jisoo nailed her liar performance it feels off that there are three bandmembers performing original work and then one member performing covers. I’m not the biggest fan of Lalisa and Money (mostly Lalisa, because I find it highly annoying that she says her own name over a 100 times, and I think she deserved a better solo than a song that just screams at you to say her name over and over again) but I will say they do really well in concert settings even if you don’t like them, HOWEVER, it did bother me during money how little Lisa had that microphone to her mouth, even when she wasn’t dancing - she practically threw out a phrase once in a blue moon, and I wished they instead would have said “okay this is a dance performance” and just put the mic down entirely and just had her go off with the background dancers, because it would have worked better and it just feels off when she only does half the lyrics. The girls are not good at crowd control during talks, at all, you can really tell they are all kind of shy people because a lot of the time they look at each other and you can tell they just hoping not to be the next one to talk. Jennie and Rosé talks most, probably because of the english, but i wish they would have put a translator on then so Lisa and Jisoo could have been freely speaking too. Yg needs to ditch that backing track for blackpink, it keeps coming back in every live event blackpink does and I hate it, they can perform perfectly fine without it and its annoying to hear the echoing of a backing track. I didn’t attend their first world tour, but I have the dvds from it, and I honestly like those better than this one, and i wish I had been on that one. But that being said, I am a blink forever at heart, and it’s always an experience to go see them, but I do think if you go on hiatus for two years planning an album and tour, I expect more from it. There are kpop groups who have a quarter of that time planning it, and money, and they manage to produce better staging and setup and concept.  Ateez - 9/10 I was not a fan until I saw them on saturday in my home country. I had listened to a lot of their title tracks, because I’m the type to put on kpop playlists and find new tracks that way to listen to, but I didn’t really know their names or anything like that, went because my friend was a fan. But boy did they change my mind. First of all, this was the first group who did not!! have any solo or unit stages in between group stages, they were on stage all eight for the entire concert, and I think they basically only didn’t have choreography for a song or two, it was insane how much ENERGY they had! Jongho (I hope I am spelling his name correctly) is insane live, his vocals are beyond stable, and he is without a doubt the best kpop vocalist I have heard live. I also love that their choreographies seem to have a common theme to them, I called it “stumble choreography” to my friend in lack of better wording, but  a lot of the choreographies have this theme of where they stumble to one side of the stage to another, and it just cool it kind of ties together. The entire section with the pirate ship as a graphic, where they mimicked stumbling on a boat each time the boat graphic moved was beyond cool. They all spoke english even though they clearly aren’t fluent, and I respect that!! the only time they used their translator was when one of the members cleared up something that didn’t come out right in english, otherwise they spoke entirely in english. I don’t a single complaint about this concert at all, and I think just like I said with bts, everyone should go see them once, they are incredible.  also I would like to add at the end, most of my critique is mostly aimed at the company, I don’t think in most cases that kpop idols gets to have a lot of control or say in how they want things done, and I think that should be taken in consideration when critiquing a concept, album, music video or concert or anything that is being put out. Unless of course you are dealing with groups like bts who have had a lot of creative input to how they should like and sound and perform.  for the end here are groups I really want to see life if they come to europe, so if you have experiences with them please tell me yours <3 : le sserafim, new jeans, shinee, exo, twice, seventeen, txt, gidle, nct 127 and as for solos, I really wanna see Taemin he’s very high on the list (but sm is allergic to europe)

[cartoonfangirl1218]

EoA couples in Heartbreaker Bay novels

All books by Jill Shalvis, summaries from Goodreads. 

Eleteo: Sweet Littles Lies- Choose the one guy you can’t have . . . As captain of a San Francisco Bay tour boat, Pru can handle rough seas—the hard part is life on dry land. Pru loves her new apartment and her neighbors; problem is, she’s in danger of stumbling into love with Mr. Right for Anybody But Her. Fall for him—hard . . . Pub owner Finn O’Riley is six-foot-plus of hard-working hottie who always makes time for his friends. When Pru becomes one of them, she discovers how amazing it feels to be on the receiving end of that deep green gaze. But when a freak accident involving darts (don’t ask) leads to shirtless first aid, things rush way past the friend zone. Fast. And then tell him the truth. Pru only wants Finn to be happy; it’s what she wishes for at the historic fountain that’s supposed to grant her heart’s desire. But wanting him for herself is a different story—because Pru’s been keeping a secret that could change everything. . . .

or Accidentally On Purpose-  There’s no such thing as a little in love… Elle Wheaten’s priorities: friends, career, and kick-ass shoes. Then there’s the muscular wall of stubbornness that’s security expert Archer Hunt—who comes before everything else. No point in telling Mr. “Feels-Free Zone” that, though. Elle will just see other men until she gets over Archer . . . which should only take a lifetime . . . There’s no such thing as a little in lust… Archer’s wanted the best for Elle ever since he sacrificed his law-enforcement career to save her. But now that she’s earned happiness and success, Archer just wants Elle 24/7. Their chemistry could start the next San Francisco Earthquake, and Archer doesn’t want to be responsible for the damage. The alternative? Watch her go out with guys who aren’t him . . . There is such a thing as… As far as Archer’s concerned, nobody is good enough for Elle. But when he sets out to prove it by sabotaging her dates, she gets mad—and things get hot as hell. Now Archer has a new mission: prove to Elle that her perfect man has been here all along…

Gababel: Hot Winter Nights- Who needs mistletoe? Most people wouldn't think of a bad Santa case as the perfect Christmas gift. Then again, Molly Malone, office manager at Hunt Investigations, isn't most people, and she could really use a distraction from the fantasies she's been having since spending the night with her very secret crush, Lucas Knight. Nothing happened, not that Lucas knows that — but Molly just wants to enjoy being a little naughty for once... Whiskey and pain meds for almost-healed bullet wounds don't mix. Lucas needs to remember that next time he's shot on the job, which may be sooner rather than later if Molly's brother, Joe, finds out about them. Lucas can't believe he's drawing a blank on his (supposedly) passionate tryst with Molly, who's the hottest, smartest, strongest woman he's ever known. Strong enough to kick his butt if she discovers he's been assigned to babysit her on her first case. And hot enough to melt his cold heart this Christmas.

Playing for Keeps- If you’re planning on falling in love… When it comes to the confident, charismatic Caleb Parker, Sadie Lane feels the spark—the kind that comes from rubbing each other the wrong way. She’s a tattoo artist, he’s a straight-laced mogul. But after they accidentally co-rescue an abandoned dog from a storm, Sadie sees a vulnerable side to the seemingly invincible hottie. you’d better be sure… Caleb doesn’t do emotions. Growing up the underdog, he’s learned the hard way to build up an impenetrable wall. Perfect for business. Disastrous for relationships. He’s never worried about it before—not until he finally gets behind Sadie’s armor and begins to fall. … someone is there to catch you. Both guarded and vulnerable, Sadie and Caleb are complete opposites. Or are they? Shocked at their undeniable connection, can they ever admit to wanting more? That all depends on what they’re each willing to risk

Estenaomi: About That Kiss- When love drives you crazy . . . When sexy Joe Malone never calls after their explosive kiss, Kylie shoves him out of her mind. Until she needs a favor, and it’s a doozy. Something precious to her has been stolen and there’s only one person with unique finder-and-fixer skills that can help—Joe. It means swallowing her pride and somehow trying to avoid the temptation to throttle him—or seduce him. the best thing to do . . . No, Joe didn’t call after the kiss. He’s the fun time guy, not the forever guy. And Kylie, after all she’s been through, deserves a good man who will stay. But everything about Kylie makes it damned hard to focus, and though his brain knows what he has to do, his heart isn’t getting the memo. … is enjoy the ride. As Kylie and Joe go on the scavenger hunt of their lives, they discover surprising things about each other. Now, the best way for them to get over “that kiss” might just be to replace it with a hundred more.

Estoma: One Snowy Night- It’s Christmas Eve and Rory Andrews is desperate to get home to the family she hasn’t seen in years. Problem is, her only ride to Lake Tahoe comes in the form of the annoyingly handsome Max Stranton, and his big, goofy, lovable dog Carl. Hours stuck in a truck with the dead sexy Max sounds like a fate worse than death (not), but Rory’s out of options. She’s had a crush on Max since high school and she knows he’s attracted to her, too. But they have history… and Max is the only one who knows why it went south. They’ve done a good job of ignoring their chemistry so far, but a long road trip in a massive blizzard might be just what they need to face their past… and one steamy, snowy night is all it takes to bring Max and Rory together at last.

Gabela: Head Over Heels- Breaking rules and breaking hearts. Free-spirited Chloe lives life on the edge. Unlike her soon-to-be married sisters, she isn't ready to settle into a quiet life running their family's newly renovated inn. But soon her love of trouble — and trouble with love — draws the attention of the very stern, very sexy sheriff who'd like nothing better than to tame her wild ways. Suddenly, Chloe can't take a misstep without the sheriff hot on her heels. His rugged swagger and his enigmatic smile are enough to make a girl beg to be handcuffed. For the first time, instead of avoiding the law, Chloe dreams of surrender. Can this rebel find a way to keep the peace with the straitlaced sheriff? Or will Chloe's colorful past keep her from a love that lasts... and the safe haven she truly wants in a town called Lucky Harbor?

[briamichellewrites]

87

2005. After six months of hard work, Elliot was able to walk from one end of the deck to the other without holding onto anything. Mike recorded her as Phoenix walked slowly in front of her in case she fell. She held her arms outstretched for balance, as she put one foot in front of the other. When she got to the other side without falling, they congratulated her! She sat down because her legs were sore before putting her arms up in victory! Yeah!

Gradually, she became stronger through physical therapy and practice. After a year, she could walk without her walker, though still slowly and carefully. She then worked on climbing stairs up and down. One foot at a time. She surprised Brad by walking by herself up to his front door. He had heard the car pull up in the driveway and he opened the door to see if she needed help with her walker.

He was amazed to see her getting out of the car by herself, closing the door, and slowly walking up to him. Anna! She came over and her jaw fell! Oh my god! Should they help her? No, he wanted to see if she could do it herself. When she got to the front door, he hugged her proudly. He was so happy and excited for her! It was the same feeling as watching Shiloh crawl to him for the first time! After saying hello to Mike and Phoenix, he turned back to her.

“You did it, Ellie!”

“I did it!”

“Congratulations! You must be exhausted! Come on. Let’s find you somewhere to sit down!”

Yes, her legs were very tired. When they got to the living room, she sat on the couch and caught her breath. How was she feeling? Tired but extremely happy! Was she proud of herself? She nodded. Good because she should be! They were very proud of her! When Shiloh woke up from her nap, she came out with Anna holding her. She had finally learned how to talk at eighteen months old. Her first word was dada. She had been so excited to see him that it just came out!

They were over the moon when she said it! She could also say mama, baba for baby, and no. No was her favorite. She sometimes said it to be silly. Did she want mama? No. Did she want dada? No. Did she want her puppy? No. It was a game for them. She was slowly catching up to children her age. They practiced her speech while playing. She understood but couldn’t grasp the concept of talking.

Until she did. She learned how to pull herself up to furniture, walk around while holding onto dada’s hands, walk by herself, and other milestones. When she was two, she finally caught up. It was around the same time that Elliot no longer needed her walker. After two years, she was back to moving around by herself. She surprised the band by walking into the studio by herself. They got ready to catch her if she fell but she didn’t. They congratulated her excitedly!

Seventeen years later, she was as active as she was before she got sick with cancer. It was a long process and hard work but she had the determination to walk again. She didn’t want to be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Did she ever go to Japan? Yes, she did. Mike and Phoenix took her in 2010. He introduced her to Japanese culture and cuisine. She surprised the locals by speaking fluent Japanese.

She ordered food in Japanese and had conversations in Japanese. What did she think of the food? It was different but she thought it was delicious! They took a tour of the Tokyo Imperial Palace, which was home to art and history. She was very respectful as they walked around. That two week was the trip of a lifetime! She was grateful she was able to go! While shopping, she picked out a kimono with cherry blossoms on it. The sales associate helped her put it on.

“Shashin o totte mo daijōbudesuka?”

(Is it okay if we take pictures of it?)

“Hai, dekimasu.”

(Yes, you can.)

“Arigatōgozaimashita.”

(Thank you.)

Mike and Phoenix both took pictures of her. She looked beautiful! The kimono complimented her hair. After buying it, she thanked the woman again. The guys also found things to buy. While in the Harajuku district, they came across a hedgehog café, where they could pay money to play with a hedgehog while enjoying a treat. They all wanted to do that! After paying, they got a little carrier that they brought to a table. It took some time before they stuck their little noses out.

Once they were comfortable around the humans, they allowed them to pick them up and play with them. They were so cute! She was tempted to take one home with her! They had the perfect nose, quills, and feet. Unfortunately, they didn’t know how bringing it home would work, especially with international laws. She had to put her friend back after an hour because their time was over.

It was worth the money they spent! Phoenix stuck out the most with his shaved head and orange beard. He thought that was funny. Damn his Scottish genes! They took a lot of pictures that they liked to look at every once in a while to remind them of how much fun it was! Every day was a new experience and they set out without any expectations, except to have fun and learn something new. The trip also helped them fall more in love with each other.

They had been going through a rough patch with arguments over everything. They were considering breaking up. They didn’t tell Elliot that the night before the trip, they had slept in separate bedrooms. On their second night in Tokyo, they both apologized and talked things through.

They would not give up so easily. There were other arguments and disagreements but they always worked together to fix things. They were committed to each other and the family they made. Twelve years later, they could not imagine being married to anyone other than each other. Phoenix was sitting on the floor by the fireplace when Milo walked over to him. His sister, Lily followed behind him. He said hello to them.

Milo went over and brought him a mouse toy. He pushed down on it, making it squeak. He threw it and Milo ran after it. After grabbing it with his teeth, he used his paws to destroy the mouse. The sun had gone down, making the sky completely dark. He could see the stars and it made him think of old cowboy movies. After taking the toy, he threw it again. Mike and Elliot came back inside after checking on the horses and found him playing catch. She joked about Milo loving him forever.

He laughed. The cat was a fun little guy. The dogs came over and joined in the fun. Mike gave Bear a stuffed squirrel and he pawed at it. He yawned before resting his head on the toy. Rocky used that opportunity to steal the toy from his brother. He growled at him but was too tired to start a fight.

Mike laughed before giving him a stuffed duck. He quickly claimed it as his before his brother could steal it. My toy! My duck! He thanked the human for giving it to him before drifting off to sleep. It was quiet in the house. At ten o’clock, the animals started excusing themselves to bed. The cats had a special appointment at seven in the morning.

They had to meow until their human got up and fed them. That appointment could not be missed. It was vital for them as cats to keep their routine. They curled up into a ball on their beds and fell asleep. The humans said good night to them before going to the kitchen for a beer before heading to bed themselves.

@zoeykaytesmom @feelingsofaithless @alina-dixon

[crancisfrozier]

I’M SO HAPPY YOU RANKED AA AND RTRWRA SO HIGH!! I always get nervous about that cause the few FF fans I’ve interacted with weren’t very big fans of those records and the mainstream consensus seems to be that they’re not good (which is obv wrong, I don’t care what pitchfork rated it). I seriously think both are FFs most underrated albums. It’s actually really funny because last week or week before I probably would have switched my ranking of them and had Right Thoughts at the top. I do the same thing though where I’ll listen to a particular song or album nonstop for like a week, and then shift my focus to a different song or album! It’s so fun to just take a deep dive into the discography this way, I feel like you can always come away learning something new about it or even just finding a deeper appreciation of it!

another read more because I can’t shut up lmao

But yea I think Right Thoughts in particular gets WAY more hate then warranted. Cause like you mentioned with AA, at least there I can understand why people would overlook it or write it off as too weird or just a talking heads impression, but all the criticism I’ve seen about Right Thoughts is that it’s basically watered down FF/YCHISMB which ?? makes no sense??? Like how can you listen to Evil Eye and be like “yea they’re just washed up, they’re phoning it in” IT’S MADNESS.

You make such a good point about AA though, and honestly what makes me love the band so much, is that through all of their changes they have stayed true to the sound. No matter how much the music and the line-up changes, there is a real heart to it that is so disappointing that a lot of music critics don’t see. They have NEVER compromised on that and it’s really so rare in the music industry these days.

That’s so interesting how you got into Sparks before FF though! I feel like it’s usually the other way around haha. I had seen Sparks on my dash, I think I have a couple mutuals who became really big fans after Edgar Wright’s documentary about them aired, so I would see posts about them here and there on the dash. To be honest for the first little while I wasn’t 100% convinced they were a real band, and not some marketing stunt by Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, et al. from the Documentary Now crew for a new season of the show or something lmao. Like a really famous director making his first documentary about these two guys who have been making music for 50+ years and influenced all these really famous musicians, but never broke the mainstream themselves? That is prime DN material lol. But then I saw the video of them performing with Cate Blanchette at Glastonbury and had to kind of go “okay this is good maybe I should go listen to more”. Now “This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us” is one of my fav songs. Another one to crank the volume up in the car lol. Have you seen Sparks live before? I think they’re on tour right now, right?

But yes ugh that collab is SO GOOD that song in particular is such a good utilization of Alex’s baritone that I would LOVE to hear more of. All of the members of Pip Blom seem so cool and down to earth too, like they’re having so much fun everytime they play.

Alex had a six week residency on Absolute Radio?? And I’m just now hearing about this??? Yeah I have some googling to do cause that sounds amazing. He really does have such a great taste in music! Everytime I watch an interview where he mentions a band I go look them up and they’re killer. I got into Orange Juice cause of him!

But yes same goes for you! Please feel free to message/ask whenever! It’s so refreshing being able to talk so in depth about the band to someone with good taste lol

Re: your previous post, I just have to ask what your FF album rankings are thus far! Also I’m loving that someone else is talking about the band at length, it’s been too quiet in the fandom on here haha

Okay this is such a big question I actually switched from mobile to desktop to answer this so be prepared for a novel here lol. But first of all yea I am so surprised the fandom is so quiet on here? I can almost always depend on Tumblr to have a little group of weirdos blogging about a vague special interest I develop so this is a little jarring! Especially considering I can see the fandom was once big enough that there was fanfiction written for it! Makes me a little sad that I seem to have missed it's heyday, but I'm glad there's still a few people kicking around haha.

(putting this under a read more because it got long wow wtf)

ANYWAY though onto the ranking! Now this list changes rapidly from week to week and sometimes day to day, but here is my current list descending (no pun intended):

Always Ascending

Franz Ferdinand

Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Actions

Tonight

You Could Have It So Much Better

*I adore Sparks and FFS, but since it's a dual release I'm excluding it from the list. However, if I included it I would probably put it between Right Thoughts and Tonight*

I feel like it's controversial to put Always Ascending above, well literally everything, and it's also funny because I use to consider this to be their WORST album, but it has grown on me so so much. I really appreciate that they were trying to do something new and experimental with their music and also I presume make an ode to one of their huge influences (Talking Heads). And throughout it all they continue to stick to (and in this case exceed imo) their thesis of "make girls dance". It's just so fun, y'know? So dance-able! The instrumentation is also EXCEPTIONAL on this album. The guitar licks in "Lazy Boy" are some of my favorite of any recent songs and the sparkly synth beats in Lois Lane are GORGEOUS. It honestly reminds me a lot of what they were trying to do on Tonight, where they stripped back their sound a bit. The focus is more on the drums, the beat, and the bass than the kind of punchy guitar attitude we heard on Franz Ferdinand and YCHISMB, but Ascending just takes it one (or two) steps further.

Now, the above is my list of favorites which is different from what I would consider to be objectively better music. If I was ranking this critically/professionally it would probably be this:

Tonight

Franz Ferdinand

You Could Have It So Much Better

Always Ascending

Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action

The thing about both of these lists though is that, for me, there is no bad album on this list. They are literally all cover to cover listens with iconic bangers on every. single. one. What is considered my favorite could change with my mood or how nostalgic I'm feeling that day. My personal theory on these albums though is that people's preferences are going to sway with what they like FF for. If you like them for the punchiness of their first two albums (that was such a hallmark of the post-punk revival) you probably won't like Right Thoughts and you'll probably actively dislike Always Ascending. If you like them when they're doing weird stuff you'll probably like Right Thoughts and Always Ascending much more. Tonight I think is a really good mix of both which is why it's a lot of people's favorites and a good starting point for any new fan if they only know Take Me Out and or/stuff from their debut album.

Btw it's really funny that as I saw this ask and was thinking about it, The Hard Times came out with an article of "All Franz Ferdinand Albums Ranked Worst to Best" that is almost identical to my second ranking but also pretty cruel to AA and RTRWRA :(. They also gave an honorable mention to FFS but said Call Girl was a skippable track (blasphemy). But yea, I just thought that was pretty amusing timing lol.

I really cannot wait until they release a new album because Curious and Billy Goodbye are such absolute bangers (catch me dancing in my kitchen to Curious at least once a week) and if those singles are anything to go on, the next album is going to be AMAZING.

I would also like to give a shoutout to Alex's collab he did with Pip Blom called "Is This Love?" because it's quickly working it's way up my spotify rankings of top tracks since I cannot stop listening to it on repeat, it's just SO GOOD.

Okay I'm so sorry this turned into a thesis about Franz Ferdinand, but I have had a lot of pent up obsession about this and you just gave me a world class excuse to info dump lol. I would be really interested to see your ranking as well and see how we compare! Thank you so much for the ask btw it means a lot! :)

[colorsunlikeanythingseen]

Trials of Apollo Fics I Recommend

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23618923/chapters/56682322

Fall of the Sun by Curioser

Five times Apollo fainted and one time he didn’t

The fic did a really good job of getting into Megs head and portraying her. An excellent exploration of her relationship with Apollo as well.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29758371/chapters/73199211

See You Yesterday by JustMcShane

Meg,” Apollo says, instead of doing something undignified like dissolving into a puddle of tears on the floor, and then he says it again for emphasis. “Meg. What – you – this is my palace.”

“Duh,” comes the typically eloquent response. “Where else was I gonna find you?”

or,

Something’s wrong with Meg. Something’s up with Apollo. Neither of them are talking about their respective things. Things will most definitely get worse before they get better.

This is an incredibly well written mystery and I do not want to spoil anything by elaborating on that.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/34566013/chapters/86042683

Apollo and the Aftermath by Ceruleancats

The Roman emperors and Python have been defeated, the oracles reclaimed, and Apollo restored to godhood. He's having somewhat of a hard time adjusting to being back among the gods, which is understandable after his six-month grow-a-conscience speedrun. But something else is rotten in the state of Olympus, and before it can really feel like home, it's going to require some serious renovation.

One of the best fics exploring the consequences of Apollo’s character development and what that means for Olympus.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/40659729/chapters/101874816

Bad Sons by thesungod

Hades turned to the demigods that were still kneeling.

“I need to speak with Will Solace,” he said to the shocked room, in the tone he could have used to say “I came to ask if one of you could lend me a pen.”

“Alone,” the god added after a moment, staring right at Nico

Or, Will and Nico go on the stupidest quest ever. And it’s all Apollo’s fault.

Another excellent mystery fic with plenty of twists and turns. Also there is Solangelo and an amazing quest mate/ third wheel accompanying them.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/42410157

I give a tour/ Nico questions everything/ Nothing to see here/ by Imnobody122

After Thalia crashed the sun chariot Apollo stuck around a bit longer to visit his kids and gives Nico an excellent tour.

Might take place during a Titian’s Curse but every bit of Apollo’s narration in this show that they have read ToA. It is just Apollo visiting his kids and Nico not being traumatized.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/3932992

A day of Two Halves by TsarinaTorment

You know those days where everything goes wrong no matter what you do? Today was one such day. To begin with, anyway.

One of my favorites of the author’s one shots, though all of them are good and you should go read them. It is just really good Apollo and his children fluff.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/40947402

Through the Son’s Eyes by Hollowsun

A journey through Asclepius' relationship with his dad, from Ancient Greece to modern day.

Exactly what it says on the tin.

https://archiveofourown.org/series/179908

ToA Analysis

A series of essays on the Trials of Apollo. Apollo is a very complex character and unreliable narrator and these essays are excellent at diving into his character and the themes of the novels.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/37101943/chapters/92575894

The Tails of A Pollo by ceruleancats

The hunt for the Teumessian Fox hasn't been going great, but thanks to a new prophecy (of sorts), it looks like Apollo may be key to aiding the Hunters of Artemis in the beast's defeat. In like, a super badass, heroic way, of course. Actually, on second thought, maybe just imagine the monster's defeat in your head. You definitely don't have to read this. I'm certain you get the gist of it already. You can simply exit this tab real quick, no biggie. Have a lovely day!

If a fic has a pun in the title there is no way it can be bad. The author does a good job at capturing Apollo’s voice as well as his relationship with Artemis. Honestly this author is just really great and you should read all of their fics.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/39669981

Wild Nights, Wild Nights by Hollowsun

Mcshizzle

@Fireboy_

using my new twitter account to livetweet my epic game of Monopoly

A monopoly game played by, Leo, Lityerses, Hazel, Nico, Apollo, Meg and Reyna. It is hilarious and very chaotic.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/36911695/chapters/92089432

The Stolen God by TsarinaTorment

Python is defeated. The prophecies are restored, and Nero has fallen. Apollo has not been seen since. His trials are over; why isn’t he back on Olympus?

There are a surprisingly amount of excellent quests and mysteries in this fandom. It is very well plotted with a completely accurate and rhyming prophecy. Also a love their characterization of Will.

[burningvelvet]

Here are a lot of the biographical sources I’ve used in studying the second generation Romantics (mainly just Byron, Mary and Percy Shelley, and their friends). If anyone else has recommendations, etc., feel free to reply!

Note: the Internet Archive & Project Gutenberg have most of these resources for free, & many can be easily found on other websites or at libraries. I also recommend reading the literary works of these writers first and foremost, since a writer’s work often reveals the most about them!

For biographical research, primary sources are sometimes the best: the letters and journals of Mary & Percy Shelley, Claire Clairmont, John Polidori, Edward Trelawny, Leigh Hunt, Lord Byron, John Hobhouse, Jane & Edward Williams, John Keats, etc. These are always the most entertaining resources as well. It’s amazing to read what they actually wrote and see things from their perspective — it also allows you to formulate your own original opinions. But remember that people are biased and forgetful by nature, and some more than others!

Young Romantics: The Shelleys, Byron and Other Tangled Lives by Daisy Hay — this is basically a condensed biography of all the members of the Byron/Shelley Romantic squad but it does provide a lot of good info, especially on Leigh Hunt & Claire Clairmont who are less talked about. It skips over some important stuff imo but it has a wonderful thesis (that the Romantics should be studied as a whole instead of individually) and offers interesting perspectives, and neatly shows how all the figures were tied by their similar ideas/interests. Perfect as an introduction!!

Byron in Geneva: That Summer of 1816 by David Ellis — all about the gang’s summer of 1816; extremely fascinating and historical! It doesn’t go into Frankenstein because that’s covered in so many other books.

The Making of Mary Shelleys Frankenstein by Daisy Hay — a brilliant companion piece to the above! It may be helpful to have alongside this Charle’s Robinson’s The Frankenstein Notebooks (though the Frankenstein manuscripts are available to be viewed here -> http://shelleygodwinarchive.org/).

History of a Six Weeks' Tour by Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley (1817) — travel book; series of letters/journals from their travels with Claire in 1814 and in 1816 when they were with Byron in Geneva; Byron is only referred to as their “companion” since he was extremely famous and didn’t want attention drawn to his private life. For similar reasons I believe Claire is left out a lot too; her affair with Byron was being kept quiet due to his recent separation from his wife, and many people were spreading reputation-ruining rumours that Claire and Percy also had an affair (which was probably true), etc.

Mary Shelley by Miranda Seymour — Seymour has written a lot about the Romantics and this is a pretty decent biography imo.

The Collaborative Literary Relationship of Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley by Anna Mercer — very important and interesting, fits into Daisy Hay’s thesis above. Anna Mercer is a major figure in Romantic research/work!

Romantic Outlaws: a parallel biography of Mary Shelley and her mother Mary Wollstonecraft by Charlotte Gordon: it explores Mary Shelley alongside her mother Mary Wollstonecraft, who was also a famous writer and pioneered feminism. She and her husband influenced the philosophies of Mary and Percy Shelley and are insanely interesting in their own right.

Works by Mary Shelley’s parents: Mary Wollstonecraft’s works A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and Thoughts on the Education of Daughters; and William Godwin’s works Political Justice, Caleb Williams, and Memoirs of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (a biography of Mary Wollstonecraft).

The Life and Letters of Mary Shelley by Mrs. Julian Marshall, two volumes via Project Gutenberg— a treasure trove of letters with writing by Marshall that is never boring imo. I think Mary’s letters and journals after Percy’s death are some of the most haunting I’ve ever read.

Byron: A Portrait by Leslie A Marchand — he’s one of the top Byron scholars and it’s probably one of the most thorough biographies. Marchand also edited the monstrous multi-volume series of Byron’s Letters and Journals, one of the definitive resources in Romanticism, often shortened by academics as “BLJ.” It’s the foundation of Byronic Studies/“Byronalia”. Byron was a prolific and beloved writer and his letters are some of the most studied, and more has been written about him than any other romantic figure by far, so I’ll try not to make this post too Byron-centric, but it is a struggle!

The Journals of Claire Clairmont by Marion Kingston Stocking — one of the best sources for Claire letters, which are sometimes hard to come by. Stocking is wonderfully sympathetic to Claire who is often neglected by historians. Claire was Mary Shelley’s step-sister and lived with Mary & Percy, and she had an affair with Byron which produced one child. Unfortunately, Claire’s diaries from 1814-1818 (when she was living with Mary & Percy + had an affair with Byron) were all destroyed. It is thought they were not destroyed by her but some other relative. This is likely because many people believe that Claire/Percy had an affair, and as blunt as she was, she would have surely written down tons of other reputation-ruining information. But her later journals and letters reveal invaluable insight into her companions lives. She was one of their main muses because she was extremely firey, funny, and fascinating.

The Clairmont Correspondence: Letters of Claire Clairmont, Charles Clairmont, and Fanny Imlay Godwin, 1808-1879. By Professor Marion Kingston Stocking. - on Claire and her siblings. Claire was Mary Shelley’s step-sister so she had her own relatives too.

Shelley, the Pursuit by Richard Holmes — considered the best biography of Percy Shelley. Extremely comprehensive. Holmes also wrote about Coleridge, and several autobiographies on what it’s like to be a Romantic biographer — very interesting!

James Bieri's biography of Percy Bysshe Shelley (two separate volumes; one edition has both volumes together) — this is the other best biography of Percy Shelley and I refer to it along with the Holmes one.

Shelley at Oxford by Thomas Jefferson Hogg — Shelley’s dorm roommate writing about their time at college. Some of his accounts are exagerrated but many are believable — he was Shelley’s best friend (aside from Peacock). Also, The Life of Percy Bysshe Shelley by Thomas Jefferson Hogg (two volumes) — same person as above. This work was boycotted by the family because it portrayed Percy as having flaws (lol) but it may not be totally accurate in other regards.

Thomas Medwin’s Journal of the Conversations of Lord Byron and The Life of Percy Bysshe Shelley. Medwin was Shelley’s cousin. His Byron book was publicly boycotted by basically everyone who knew Byron. Even Byron’s exes and servants were writing scathing reviews of it! This was partly for factual errors. However, Medwin does capture some of Byron’s personality, though the more controversial and tacky sides, which is the primary reason it was boycotted. His biography of Shelley was disliked for similar reasons. Mary wrote to Mrs. Hunt of Medwin’s Byron biography: “Have you heard of Medwin’s book? Notes of conversations which he had with Lord Byron (when tipsy); every one is to be in it; every one will be angry. He wanted me to have a hand in it, but I declined. Years ago, when a man died, the worms ate him; now a new set of worms feed on the carcase of the scandal he leaves behind him, and grow fat upon the world’s love of tittle-tattle. I will not be numbered among them.” This shows how Mary and others viewed tell-all biographies; much the same way they are viewed today.

The Diary of Edward Williams — short diary kept by Williams who drowned with Shelley and lived with him - interesting accounts of their life before death!

The Diary of John Polidori — he was Byron’s doctor and also a writer. He wrote The Vampyre, the first ever vampire novel, which was based on the story Augustus Darvell, an unfinished vampire story Byron began as part of the 1816 Geneva story competition in which Mary wrote Frankenstein. Whew. Any way, Byron’s publisher John Murray wanted to pay Polidori to keep a record of his & Byron’s travels… which he failed to follow through with, but some of his entries remain. However, most of his diaries/journals were burned by his sister for being “indecent” (likely LGBT+) & he took his own life at age 25.

The Lord Byron / John Polidori relationship and the foundation of the early nineteenth-century literary vampire by Matthew Beresford — this is actually someone’s doctoral thesis and can be found here: https://uhra.herts.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/2299/22626/13090610%20BERESFORD%20Matthew%20Final%20Version%20of%20PhD%20Submission.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1&fbclid=IwAR3uN505R2nuvS1mTlUY3MEn5YRUYJn7hgmKXy9FGO0wooh6xwpXfqJTfME

Poor Polidori : a critical biography of the author of The vampyre by David Macdonald — sometimes harsh, bu the writing is truly entertaining and the intro alone is so so so insightful! “The study of a marginal figure like Polidori - indeed, of many marginal figures like Polidori - is necessary if literary studies are to be rescued from the ahistorical canonization in which they have been entrenched since before the days of the New Criticism. Even apart from the unquestionable need for a larger context against which to understand canonical authors, it may be that marginal ones provide clearer examples of certain kinds of intertextual phenomena.” Yes! He gets it.

John Keats: The Making of a Poet by Aileen Ward — one of the best biographies on Keats

Letters of Fanny Brawne to Fanny Keats and Letters of John Keats to Fanny Brawne. Fanny was John’s fiancé & muse.

Lord Byron's Jackal: A Life of Edward John Trelawny by David Crane and the Letters of Edward Trelawny — Trelawny was a brief part of the squad. He’s buried next to Shelley although he only knew him for 6 months. He was a writer, sailor, adventurer, and went into the Greek War with Byron. He kept in touch with Mary and Claire until the end of their lives. He proposed to Claire multiple times and they possibly had an affair.

Recollections of the Last Days of Shelley and Byron by Edward Trelawny — He wrote this decades after he knew them and the details in some of his stories tended to vary. In later years he became biased against some people so it can be taken with a grain of salt. But it’s very interesting and some of it must be true. Gives details of Shelley’s funeral.

Life of Byron by Thomas Moore — very well researched and Mary Shelley contributed a lot to it including accounts of the 1816 Diodati trip. Moore was a famous writer as well and he knew them all. He was one of Byron’s best friends. Biased, of course!

Lord Byron and Some of His Contemporaries: With Recollections of the Author's Life, and of His Visit to Italy by Leigh Hunt — Extremely entertaining if not unbiased. Hunt was a key part of the movement and knew everyone well, including Keats, and especially Shelley. Like all biographies written by people who were involved, it is very biased — especially since Hunt and Byron had a big falling out, which Hunt blames Byron for (which isn’t entirely fair; for example, Byron gave Hunt money which Hunt was ungrateful for, & Byron gave Hunt money to give to Mary when she was living with Hunt because Byron knew she wouldn’t accept it from him out of shyness, but Hunt kept the check for himself source: Young Romantics by Daisy Hay). Many people dislike Hunt because of this book and several things he did, but it is still interesting!

Shelley and His Circle; Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection: a collection of manuscripts with notes and expalanations - best for research!

The Shelley-Byron Conversation by William D. Brewer: explores their influences on each other and literary connections. Several books have been written just on Shelley and Byron. Another one I like is Shelley and Byron: The Snake and Eagle Wreathed in Flight by Charles E. Robinson which examines how for example Shelley plagiarized some of Byron’s work (this isn’t an attack, it’s true, and he did it out of appreciation!)

His Very Self and Voice: Collected Conversations of Lord Byron edited by Ernest J Lovell — basically a compilation of people sharing their memories of Byron and the others— some are biased but some seem super accurate, and you can tell by the details that overlap in everyone’s stories lol!

Lady Blessington's Conversations of Lord Byron edited by Ernest J Lovell — same as above. Taken from diaries she kept.

Byron’s Ravenna Journal — short diary he kept while living in Ravenna, Italy.

Byron’s Correspondence as edited and collected by top scholar Peter Cochran: much of it is available on his website here with notes —> https://petercochran.wordpress.com/byron-2/byron/

The Last Man by Mary Shelley — a fictional book, but the characters are all portraits of people Mary knew so it’s very biographically interesting. She wrote it when she was feeling l lonely after Byron and Shelley died, Claire moved far away, and the whole group was disbanded. It takes place in an apocalyptic/dystopian future. Lord Raymond is Lord Byron, Adrian is Percy, Perdita is Claire — the characters form a group she calls the “Elect.” She wrote in her journal: “The last man! Yes I may well describe that solitary being's feelings, feeling myself as the last relic of a beloved race, my companions extinct before me."

My Recollections of Lord Byron by contessa di Teresa Guiccioli — this is a book by Teresa, Byron’s gf in Italy who he lived with for years; his longest partner. She was madly in love with him and worships him to an insane extent so most of it can be taken with skepticism since it is biased, but it is entertaining.

The Last Attachment by Iris Origo: this is about Byron’s relationship with Teresa. It can be paired with the above. It is one of the only books written about Teresa and is very well researched.

The Secret: The Strange Marriage of Annabella Milbanke and Lord Byron by Ashley Hay and In Byron's Wake: The Turbulent Lives of Lord Byron's Wife and Daughter: Annabella Milbanke and Ada Lovelace by Miranda Seymour — Byron’s daughter Ada is also fascinating. She was a wild rebel like Byron, but she’s considered the mother of computer science, the inventor of coding, and was the first computer programmer ever; her and her mother were both mathematicians. Lord and Lady Byron had a horrible marriage; he was an absent father, and Annabella was a bad mother.

Journals/resources: Other important journals/resources for articles + scholarly study: 1) the Newstead Abbey Byron Society (Newstead Abbey was his ancestral home; now a museum). 2) The Byron Society, which runs The Byron Journal, which is a major resource—there are many offshoots of the Byron Society for different countries (ie Byron Society of America), that make up the overall International Society, and they have fascinating conferences and whatnot for Byron scholars to share research. 3) The Shelley Conference— they have a series of recorded interviews with scholars for the #Shelley200 anniversary celebration (found here: https://theshelleyconference.com/shelley200/). 4) the Keats-Shelley Journal— an amazing resource for all things related to them, their work, and their circles. They post a lot of work about Mary/Byron/Claire/Hunt/etc. and a lot of their past publications can be found online for free! It’s probably my favorite journal tbh.

Notes: I’ve read lots of other books and academic articles, especially if I’m searching for something on a particularly niche topic. The good thing about the Romantics is that they’re all so well-researched and so widely written about, so practically any question has already been asked before—there have been whole essays written about these writers diets, wardrobes, sexualities, health statuses, bills and bank statements, philosophies, sleep schedules, etc.! However, I’ve found a lot of newer biographical books about these writers simply rehash what others have written, and are poorly researched or not researched at all, and a lot of them are published only because it’s an easy topic to profit off of due to how interesting these people were. I ran into this problem a lot when trying to learn more about Lady Caroline Lamb, Byron’s half-sister Augusta Leigh, and his wife Anne Milbanke. There aren’t that many good books written about them because they’re considered secondary figures in the Romantic canon, and most of the books on them read like copies of each other—so individual essays online written by rogue academics are really your best bet for info instead of the books, or to otherwise supplement what the books lack!

Closing notes: I would never tell anyone not to read something, but beware that a lot of authors have written tantalizing, dramatized portraits of these writers to cash in on their scandals without actually fact checking anything. Many people in the circle had disagreements and falling outs, some understandable and some petty. It’s important to remember that everyone is explictly and implicitly biased. Byron started a feud with Keats, Claire and Mary had multiple falling outs, Hobhouse hated Percy, almost everyone hated Hobhouse, etc… so it’s good to keep a relatively open mind and to remember that these are all complex people and we shouldn’t stereotype them; they were human, and they had strengths as well as flaws. They all despised critics, and they would probably be annoyed if they knew how many biographies they all had, so the least we can do today is to appreciate their work as writers and muses, and to be respectful of their individual opinions and experiences.

[itsallyscorner]

Can you write a little mix member x avengers cast?? Maybe?

Hello love! Thank you for the request, I apologize for taking so long to work on it! I’ve written this as a headcanon, since I haven’t done any of those in a while. I hope you like it❤️

💌.

The Marvel Cast Finds Out You’re In Little Mix

Why is this lowkey a crack fic/headcanon😭💀

Alrighty so, I feel like they probably wouldn’t know you’re part of a band or who Little Mix is.

Since SADLY, the girls aren’t as big in the States as we’d like them to be:(

The people who definitely might know you are ✨The Brits✨ and Scarlett because she has a young daughter who probably listened to Wings or something—kids find everything on the internet these days.

Working with Marvel was your first acting gig; so none of them knew anything about you or if you’ve been in other films, etc.

Except for Tom Holland, who was lowkey fangirling at the fact he gets to work with one of the Little Mix members.

Side note: he’ll be deeply offended when he figures out the others don’t know about Little Mix or that you can sing.

The rest of the cast (RDJ, Chris Evans, Anthony Mackie, Seb, Lizzie, etc.) had a hunch that you were some kind of writer.

You were always humming to yourself and writing in your notebook or typing down notes in your phone when something came to mind.

Though they didn’t pry at your business because—well, it wasn’t their business.

They could find out about your other job through many ways. Maybe you guys are doing promo and some interviewers mention the band and things about a new album, to which most of them were confused about.

“So (Y/n), I know this is your first time acting. How different was it from performing on stage and acting on camera?”

Everyone’s attention would be on you (this is a panel btw) Mackie’s looking at the back of your head in confusion, Robert fully turns in his seat to look at you, Lizzie is also curious, Evans is looking between you and the reporter—everyone is just confused.

“Performing on stage? Did you do Broadway (y/n/n)?” Evans asked. Tom (Holland) scoffed shaking his head, disgusted to be part of this group of uncultured swines.

You chuckled and shook your head, “No, I’m a singer. I’m part of a girlband.”

The whole cast gasped in shock. Mackie let out a loud “WHAT?!”. Robert leaned even closer to you trying to see if you were lying. Others whispered amongst themselves asking each other if they knew.

Tom (Holland) just sat back watching everyone’s reactions along with you. Amused at the amount of questions that were suddenly being thrown your way.

He’d also be quick to add, “NOT just ANY girlband, but the biggest girlband on the planet.”

For clarification, Tom’s a very proud Mixer.

Scarlett finally recognized you, knowing that she’s seen you somewhere before, but could never put her finger onto it. “Wait you’re from Little Mix!”

“THANK YOU! FINALLY SOMEONE WITH SOME TASTE!” Tom yelled, dramatically turning to Scarlett.

After the initial shock, everyone was very curious. They wanted to hear your music, wanted to know the other members, when your next tour was—they were very ecstatic.

When you guys finally reached London for the press tour, there was a lot of hype for Little Mix because you guys were going to finally reunite after months of being apart.

The girls were allowed to visit set, but since you guys were working on your new album, they were stuck in London. You were relocated to Atlanta, filming an Avengers movie and working on the album via FaceTime/Zoom.

You and the girls reunite the same night you land in London! As tired as you were, the five of you hung out in your hotel room.

You were all excited for the days to come. Not only were you doing promo for the movie but you and the girls were going to be performing again on night time talk shows and were having a Live Lounge session with BBC Radio 1.

The panel of the cast discovering you were part of a band went viral. Many of the fans couldn’t believe they didn’t know about your other job.

There were even edits going around social media of the cast looking clueless and or reacting to your ‘secret’.

Then there were ones like “Tom Holland being a Mixer for 10 minutes and 57 seconds straight”.

Your favorite one was where they zoomed in on everyone’s confused expression while that one Nicki Minaj song played in the background.

It was mentioned in almost every interview after it went viral.

“So none of you had a clue that (y/n) was also a singer? Like at all?”

“I didn’t even know homegirl could sing, matter of fact I never imagined her to be in a girlband.” — Anthony Mackie

“I had a hunch that she was a musician or artist, but no one ever listens to me.” — Chris Evans

“(Y/n)’s in a girlband? Since when?” — Paul Rudd

“After we found out, I listened to all six of their albums on the flight here.” — Elizabeth Olsen

“Of course I knew, my music taste is immaculate compared to the others.” — Tom Holland

“Shut the fuck up, Tom.” — Anthony Mackie

“I really enjoy Black Magic, it reminds me of Wanda.” — Paul Bettany

The cast was so eager to hear you sing and watch you perform with the girls.

They finally got to do that when you invited them to the Live Lounge session. They also got to meet the girls.

You were very happy at that moment; seeing the two groups of people you love meeting each other and getting along meant a lot to you. It gave you a lil warm tingle in your heart.

Since there were no fans in the studio, it was only you and the girls, the band, and a bunch of the Avengers.

While the cameras rolled and you guys were performing, they were crowded together behind the scenes. Some of them were sitting on the carpeted floors or standing against the walls.

They were absolutely stunned when they heard you sing. You had a powerful voice that ranged from high to low, something they never expected of you.

When they heard you and the girls sing or harmonize with each other, it was like they were all in heaven.

“They sound like angels.”

“My ears are tingling, but like in a good way.”

“Seriously, how did we not know she can sing like this?”

“Hear me out—this is a perfect reason as to why we should have an Avengers musical.”

“Chris if we hear you bring up a damn musical one more time I swear.”

“Their voices go so well together, how do they even do that?”

Scarlett would secretly film videos to show her daughter. I have a feeling that Evans, Tom, RDJ, Sebby, and Mark would record some parts as well and would post it onto their Insta stories.

When fans found out they were at the Live Lounge they freaked out.

Ever since they found out you were in a band, they’ve been the biggest fans and supporters of the group.

They’re always promoting your albums on their social media accounts without you even asking.

Privately and publicly praising you guys for performances or achievements.

Your two main groups clashed and now everyone was friends. It was definitely the most weirdest collision— Little Mix and the cast of the Avengers. But it worked out perfectly.

Everyone got along with each other and the girls would always visit you on set.

They’re always playing the band’s song in the background on set.

Most of them won’t admit, but they definitely memorized the lyrics to almost every song.

*cough cough* Mackie and Hemsworth

I feel like Samuel L. Jackson would join in on the action too, one way or another. Somehow he got looped in.

ANOTHER THING OMG, they would definitely stand up for you and the girls whenever Piers Morgan or some asshole hates on you guys or pulls a jab on you all.

Best beileve Evans will be calling him out publicly on Twitter.

“Why are you so worried about a bunch of talented women who are doing their job and bringing happiness to others? They’ve done nothing to you, you’re always the one making jabs at them. Leave them alone you fucking British meatball.”

I feel like Robert helped you and the girls find a better management company after learning about the unfair treatment you all faced under Simon’s care.

In conclusion: The Marvel cast would be ecstatic to learn about you being a singer and they’d become your biggest fans. They truly adore you and the girls for your amazing talent :’)